Silent Darkness
by ShinkouPrincess
Summary: Kagome is a loving girl. Inuyasha is a boy with a dark past and an unknown future. As these two travel through their senior year, not only will they have to deal with teenage drama, but the constant threat of demons who always want something with Kagome.
1. Chapter 1

Silent Darkness  
Chapter 1

* * *

If I could change anything about my life, anything at all, then I'd turn myself into a youkai. Or maybe even a human. Anything would be better than being only half, only a hanyou. Being a hanyou meant I could never belong into any group, and from the day I was born, it was that sick and twisted fate that decided I would never fit in anywhere.

Maybe if I were a youkai, I wouldn't be in the situation I've been in my entire life, with bruises and scars covering my body, and the frequent sound of screaming and objects crashing to the floor. Everything always was too unbearable for me to handle, and I was constantly left hurt and frightened, my mind scarred with lingering memories that I wish never occurred.

But I never cried or showed any fear. No one has ever seen me cry. Maybe my mother did when I was little, but that's all. She's gone now. She left me with the atrocity that is my broken family.

I am alone in this unforgivable world. No one is there for me, and no one cares. No one even knows about my life. But it's not like I let them. In fact, I would probably have friends right now if it weren't for my need to snap at someone for no apparent reason or to start yelling at them to leave me alone. I can't help it though. I know that whenever you get close to someone, they leave you.

They _always_ leave you.

Those are my expectations whenever someone tries to befriend me.

* * *

As I walked into the school of Hell, the bell started to ring loudly through the long and empty hallway, signaling that class was starting. I inwardly flinched. Late again…

I pulled my backpack strap over my shoulder as I started walking faster. My footsteps were the only sound I heard as soon as the sound of the bell abruptly stopped, and within the doors I passed I heard the loud squawking voices of the teachers. Finally reaching my locker, I stuffed everything in, grabbed a book, and then slammed it shut, the lone sound echoing through the vacant hallway. With that, I almost ran to my classroom.

When I got there, I knocked and slowly walked in. I noticed everyone look up from their desks and stare at me. My teacher, Mrs. Hidarisko, didn't even look at me from where she was writing on the board.

I ignored the blank gawking and started walking to my seat in the back. God, I hate it when they stare at me. I hate it when _anyone_ stares at me.

"Late again, I see, Mr. Taisho." Mrs. Hidarisko said, now looking at me through her small glasses as I flopped down in my seat. I gave her a shrug. In return, she glared at me and turned back to writing on the board.

Some people were still staring at me. I glared at them, and they immediately turned around. Crossing my arms across my chest, I leaned back, watching as Mrs. Hidarisko finished writing the words, 'Project: due Monday,' and turned around to face the class.

"Alright, class. We're starting a new partner assignment. I will assign the partnership, and no complaining to who you get, got it?" she said sternly.

I groaned. It hasn't even been three days into the new school year, and we're already getting fucking projects.

Mrs. Hidarisko clasped her hands together and beamed at us. "Now since this class is early Japanese history, you are going to make a presentation on one of your favorite stories from the past. If you need ideas, just come and ask me. Okay, so I expect a poster board with pictures and captions, and at least a five-minute presentation. It's not that bad. Its due Monday, so you have today and the weekend to do it. Everyone got it?"

Everyone grunted in response.

She smiled, seeming to take that as a good answer. "Alright," she said as she headed to her desk, and sat down. "I'll read you your partners. When you get with them, plan out how you will be spending time at each other's houses to work on the project. Okay, first off, Miroku, you'll pair off with Sango."

I glanced up as I heard the name Miroku. I watched as he looked over at Sango and winked.

I knew Miroku. In fact, he tried being nice to me freshman year, and I refused it. I regret doing that. He did really try to start a friendship, and he always invited me over to his house, and even kept trying even after I said 'no'. I just pushed him away.

But that's how it always was.

A memory came to my mind as I remembered the last day Miroku tried inviting me somewhere.

"Hey Inuyasha, want to come over to my house on Friday?" he asked, smiling as we walked down the hall.

"No," I simply said.

"Aw, come on Inuyasha. You know you want to-"

"Damn it, Miroku! Don't you see I never wanted to even talk to you in the first place?" I yelled, causing several people to stop and stare at me, something I definitely loathed.

It wasn't like I didn't want to hang out with him. I just didn't want to get close. And also there was the fact that I was still angry from the morning fight I had with my father.

Back in the present, I half-listened to the name-calling as I drummed my fingers lazily on the desk. I hope I'm not with some dumb ass that doesn't even know why they took this class.

That always seems to happen with me. I'm smart; I do my homework and study because I can never do anything else. It's not like I have any plans with anyone. So I get exceptionally good grades. But I always get paired with some kid who doesn't know what they're doing and then I have to do it all.

"Inuyasha…" I perked my head up, "You'll be with Kagome."

My eyes glanced over to the girl who looked over and smiled at me. I almost glared at her. Almost.

What confused me was why I didn't do it.

I still sat there as Mrs. Hidarisko finished calling off the list of partners. I knew of Kagome. She was supposedly one of the smartest in this class along with me, and was also a senior. Keh, at least I'm with someone my age for once, and not some young loser.

Well basically, the only other thing I knew of her was that she also has a lot of friends. Something I envy her for. Hell, I envy that of everyone.

But at least she's not like most dumb-asses who I always seemed to get partnered with. This is a change. Now I don't have to do everything on my own.

"Alright, you guys can get busy." Mrs. Hidarisko said, as she turned her chair to her computer and began typing. The room instantly became noisy with everyone talking and shifting seats to sit with their partners.

I watched as Kagome got up and sat down in the desk in front of me. She smiled as she turned around to look at me. "So, you have any ideas of what you want to do for the project?" she asked.

I shrugged. I did have one, but I don't really want to tell her. My ideas, my thoughts; no one else should see them.

"Well," she said as she leaned her elbow on my desk, her chin propped in her open palm, "I have this one idea if you don't have any. I always heard this one when I was little. It's about this priestess named Kikyo who had to guard what was known as the Shikon no Tama. Have you ever heard of that one?"

What surprised me was that that was the story I wanted to do in the first place. "Yeah, I've heard of it," I simply said.

"So you willing to do it?"

"Sure. I have to, don't I, wench?" I regretted my words as soon as they left my lips. Here she was being nice to me, and I called her a wench. Once again, the badass Inuyasha strikes.

Her eyes at first opened in shock, and then narrowed. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Wow, way to be a baka, Inuyasha." she said, turning her head away.

Regret started to slowly clench my heart, starting so small, and then it increasing its size, causing me to look at her in worry. I wanted to say sorry to her. Truly I did. But I couldn't. I've never said sorry before in my life.

"Look, Kagome…" I began to say. She turned her head back around to listen to what she thought I'd say, but I never said more. She stared at me for a few moments, and I hated the way she was looking into my eyes. It was like she was reading my thoughts. I didn't like it at first, but after a second or two, I got used to it.

She sighed, and her angry look left her. "It's alright," she said. I raised my eyebrows a little. I didn't say sorry, did I? "Anyways, so do you want to come over to my house this weekend to work on the project, or do you want me to come over to yours?"

It partially amazed me to see how quickly she had gotten over the name-calling.

But what she said caused a painful memory of earlier in the day to come up: my father, screaming at me, half-drunk even in the morning. Truth was, that wasn't even half-bad than usual. I slightly grimaced, and harshly said, "You don't want to come over."

Kagome seemed to stare at me for a couple more seconds, and I felt uncomfortable again at first. I started to glare at her. I didn't mean to. It's just not something I can control.

"Fine," she said, suddenly in an angry mood again. She now too, was glaring at me. "You can come over Saturday at noon."

I nodded once and looked away from her evil gaze as the bell rang. I got up and started to walk away, until I heard her say, "Wait."

I turned around to see her scribbling something on a scrap of paper. She then handed it to me. "Here, its my address." With that she grabbed her stuff and walked away. I watched as she walked towards Sango, and they headed out of the room together. She even took a glance back at me.

I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket, and walked out.

* * *

The only sound I heard in my room that night was the pencil scribbling across a sheet of paper. I stared intently at my homework, my eyes glancing to and fro from the book to the worksheet.

This is how my nights usually went. I would sit up in my room, on my bed, and do my homework until I would hear my father come in. I would always hear him. Slamming the door so hard that it shook the small house wasn't very subtle.

I glanced over at my clock. It read 8:15. Yep, wouldn't be long now. In fact, he should've been home a half hour ago.

That was always the routine. He would come in pissed off at something from his work. He would take it out on me, and I would either go up to my room and fall asleep or take a walk outside. Not much to do.

Every now and then when I came back from taking a walk outside, he would either be gone, or he would be drunk. Something even after years of experience, I still couldn't deal with.

Sometimes he wouldn't come in and yell at me, however. Although that was rare, it did happen occasionally where he would walk in, drowsy and tried, and most likely fall asleep instantly.

It's Friday night too. The night where everyone gets together with their friends and have fun, staying up as long as they can, and maybe breaking a few rules. I've seen some of those lives on TV, but of course, its never happened with me.

Some Fridays nights to other people are the best part of the week. The week long of school was over, and they can go out and do whatever they want. Then when they get back to school on Monday, gossip and talk would be going around about what happened three nights before.

As for me, my Friday nights were always the same. Always the same as every other night I have. First I do homework, and then sleep.

I sighed and leaned my head against the headboard of my bed behind me. I looked around the room and saw my reflection in the small mirror leaning against the wall. I saw my silver hair, the gold eyes, and the same unexpressive face I see every time I look in that mirror. Well, it's either that, or anger.

How I wish to feel something else.

I glanced to the side of me to see my necklace lying on top of a pillow. This necklace meant a lot to me. Even though it changes what my appearance looks like, my mother had made it out of blue beads and given it to me. It's what I had left of her, besides the picture lying in my desk drawer.

Every variety of demon had a necklace like this. Well, they had some form of jewelry that changed their form of demon into a human appearance when they walked out into the public. No human knows that there are demons still surviving in Japan. Everyone thought they died centuries ago. That's why it was always a rule for demons to only mate with other demons. That way, the word wont get out if something goes wrong.

I sighed and closed my eyes.

Too bad I'll never have the luxury of mating with someone. I can't mate with a demon because nobody likes a hanyou, but I can't marry a human because then I'd have to give her the secret of my half-demon nature, and then they would instantly loathe me.

Basically, a lose-lose situation. That's how my life has always been. No matter what I do, or even what I accomplish, I always lose. In this game of life, I'll never make it to the finish line.

Suddenly a door slammed, and I heard my name being yelled. Grabbing my necklace and putting it inside my pocket, I got off of my bed, and opened my door to find my father screaming my name again.

"I'm coming, damn it!" I yelled back as I trudged down the stairs. Anger was already stirring within me, just waiting to burst. I don't know how to push it away. I hate to say it, but in some ways I am like my father. For one thing, we both can't control our anger.

I came to the bottom of the stairs to see my father fuming near the front door. He had his hands clenched at his sides, and was rigid. He still had his suit on from working at his business, and his long black human hair was a mess.

"Look at this fucking place, Inuyasha! Haven't you learned to clean up yet?"

I walked over to the couch that had some bottles lying on it and started to pick them up. My mouth was tightly shut. I tried not to say anything. I really didn't.

"Bad day, eh?" I remarked softly, snapping my mouth shut as soon as they were heard.

"What was that, boy?" he said. I knew he was walking towards me. I could feel the floor shaking at his monstrous steps. Suddenly, his large shadow was next to me. I looked away from it, and gathered the rest of the bottles in my arms.

"Nothing." I said, as I walked around him, went into the kitchen and threw the bottles in the garbage bag. He walked in behind me.

"I'm going out, I need to get some more drinks." He said in a gruff voice as he walked away.

"You sure you need any more?" I yelled out, making sure he heard me.

My father came back through the door, slamming it against the wall. "What'd you say?" he yelled, standing in the threshold.

"Keh," I replied, looking away from him, "Nothing."

"No, it was something."

"It was nothing!" I said, my voice starting to rise. The anger that was bubbling in me before started to well up again, and this time it was escalating its size, threatening to take over.

My father strode forward, and I took a step back only to find I hit the counter. I was trapped. Trapped within my own home.

My father got right into my face, and he said, seething, "What'd you say?"

I glared at him. "I said you don't need any more drinks."

My father's hand raised and slapped me across the face. I winced, as the sting was still there even after he spat on the ground in front of me, and stomped out. I heard as the front door slammed shut, and I reached a hand up to touch the side of my face.

"Damn it!" I muttered under my breath as I grabbed the necklace out of my pocket and put it on, instantly feeling my body changing and feeling much weaker. I looked down at my hands to see my long nails slowly shrink.

I walked out of the kitchen, and slammed the door behind me. "Fucking bastard," I muttered as I walked out of the house, enraged as I headed down the driveway. By then I could see my father's car driving away from the house down the street.

My anger continued with me on my way down the empty street. Only a few cars passed by, their high beam lights blinding me for a couple of seconds.

It was dark out, and I stuffed my hands into my pockets, glaring at the ground passing beneath my feet. I kicked a few rocks out of my way, watching as they flew into the air and then rolled on the grass.

I hated that fucking father of mine. He was no father. And Seshoumaru was no brother. The ones, who should mean something to me, mean nothing.

My fingernails started biting into my skin. I pushed harder, trying to release the pain from inside.

Finally I let go, and took a deep breath, trying to relax. It's no use being angry at something I can't control. I looked up and stared at the moon shining brightly above me. Surrounding the brightly lit sphere were thousands of stars, glittering and blinking towards Earth.

Stars are like people. There are so many, too many to count, too many to recognize. Only a few stars fade away, or blow up (find more about that). Its like, why did that one star out of so many have to die or fade, just like that?

It reminds me of my life. Why, out of so many people, did I have to have this life (if that's what you call it)? I'm sick of dealing with this endless shit. Why me? Why do I have to suffer? Was it fate that out of a thousand, I was the one stuck with a horrible father, an unforgiving brother, and a dead mother?

When I was a little younger, when I was unable to cope with all of this, I had learned the art of cutting. I remember sitting in my room, sliding the knife down my arms and legs, watching as the blood oozed out of the wounds. I never flinched. I never cried.

I had started at the age of thirteen, hoping that this new "art" would help me rid the pain my father brought me every night. I was hoping it would replace the damage inside with the soreness outside. I thought it had worked. Until I was fifteen, I learned it was never worth it.

I sighed as I turned into the park entrance. There was a day when my father walked in, saw the blood all over the carpet and my clothes. I had looked up, in the act of slicing through my arm. He didn't care though. He took one look at it, and walked out. I think I remember hearing a small laugh coming from his mouth. I'm not sure though.

My father did laugh every once in a while, but not in a good way. He laughed at the stupid things I did, or the fact of me being a hanyou. I knew he was disappointed in me being a hanyou. At least, that's what it seems like.

I forced these thoughts out of my head.

The park was empty. I walked along the dirt path, looking at all the trees and playgrounds that stood near the pathway. My hands were in my pockets, and the feelings of anger almost out of my head. For some reason, this place always seemed to calm me.

I shuffled my feet along, watching as the dirt rose above my shoes and then slowly disappeared as it reached its way back to the ground. A slight breeze came through; faintly lifting my shirt up and setting it back down carefully.

My thoughts were somewhere else. My mind was uncontrollable, going through all the memories of my father. I didn't want to think about all of it, but I couldn't help it.

There was actually a time when my father wasn't like this. It was before my mother died. I was very young at the time, probably around five or six years old, but I remember how happy our family was. Even including my brother, Seshoumaru. We enjoyed every moment together, and we shared precious memories that I can barely remember. The ones I have committed to memory are filled with happiness and joy. Even love.

Those were the days.

Then, the death of my mother shocked us all, tipping the family out of balance. From then on, that is when my family started to separate. My father began to make a habit out of drinking, and Seshoumaru became distant with me. At such a young age, I didn't even have anyone to cry to when my mother died. They all forgot about me. Left me to suffer alone.

I'm glad that this is my last year of high school. Finally, I can go to college and leave my life behind. Leave this life of hatred and remorse. That had been my dream ever since I was little. That is why when I turned thirteen, I worked and worked, and I even had three jobs at one point. I knew my father would go waste my college fund money on alcohol, or some other stupid thing. When I turned seventeen, I had enough money to go to a decent college.

Seshoumaru had done the same thing. He had to work to go to college. That's where he is now.

Lucky bastard….

"Inuyasha?"

I stopped and turned around to the place where my name was called. I found Kagome sitting on a bench, smiling at me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. I started to walk away, not wanting her to see any hint of my features hinting to what happened only about an hour earlier. It was my business, and who knows, being a girl she might try to pry it out of me and keep bugging me about it.

I thought she got the point and stayed sitting on the bench. However, out of the corner of my eye I saw her walking beside me, that smile still across her face.

"Keh," I said, not really feeling the urge to answer her question. We were silent for a bit, and even though I was looking straight ahead, I could feel her eyes watching me.

"Well?" she said. I turned to look at her to still see her smiling. How can one person smile for so long? Is her life just so perfect that she can smile all the time and not be tired of it? I wonder what that's like….

"I could ask you the same," I replied.

She shrugged and looked ahead. "I just wanted to go for a walk. I usually come out here."

I nodded to some extent and was silent again. We continued walking in quiet. After a few moments, I saw Kagome turn her head towards me and said, "You never answered my question," she said.

"What question?" I asked.

She giggled, "When I asked what you were doing out here."

"Oh," I said, "I always come out here."

She seemed to find that sentence rather exciting. I watched as her smile got bigger. "Really? Then I'll guess I'll always see you out here then." She said.

I felt the need to snap at her, say anything to send her running away. But I couldn't. Right now, I knew what she wanted from me, and I'm sure she heard all the stories. She can't be friends with me. They try, but they can't. It'll never happen.

We kept walking, and for some reason her presence with me walking out here seemed to calm me even more. I had no clue why, but every time I stole a glance at her, she had a small smile on her face. Damn, how can that woman smile so much?

"So," she said, folding her hands together in front of me, "I found some pictures for our project on the internet. I have a lot of them, so hopefully it'll be enough for the poster board."

"You already started it?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yep."

My eyes wandered over to the slide and swings to the left. I remembered that pacific place. My mother took me there all the time. We always came here.

Maybe that's why this place always seems to soothe me.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked, finding my voice had a very harsh edge to it.

She looked taken aback. Her voice showed surprise at first, and then she glared at me, "Jeese, you don't have to be so mean about it."

I shrugged. "Keh."

She threw her arms in frustration, and glared at me. I stopped walking to glare at her back, and she stopped too, saying, "Why do you have to be such a jerk? I was only being nice to you, and you go on and say something mean! You did it in school too."

"Oi, you don't have to get upset with me, wench." I remarked.

She placed her hands at her hips and stared me down. "You owe me an apology, _baka_."

I crossed my arms and turned my head to the side. "To hell I do, _wench_," I said gruffly. At that point, every thought that involved me being at peace with her walking beside me instantly vanished. I started to get really angry.

"Stop calling me a wench!" she yelled.

I turned my head back towards her and said, "Then don't call me a baka."

"You deserve it, _baka_." She said.

"Well then you deserve what you get, _wench_."

I saw her mouth open again to retort to that, and then closed it. She slowly shut her eyes and I saw her take a deep breath. She then reopened her them, every look of anger gone from her deep brown orbs.

"Look, I'm done fighting with you." She said. Then she turned on her heel and walked back in the direction that we came from.

Like her, my anger suddenly vanished, and I watched as she started to walk away. I didn't try to stop her. But I felt helpless standing there as she kept walking, never looking back.

When she was far away, I turned around and walked in the opposite direction. "Damn it," I muttered. I kicked my foot in the dirt and watched as it flew into my jeans.

Once again, I had pushed away someone who only tried to be nice with me.

* * *

So there ya go. I know this story seems really sad-ish, but it'll get better in the hapiness department.

Expect an update at least once every weekend...and yeah. Also please review, I love them, and they keep me going.

Hope you like it so far. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Silent Darkness  
Chapter 2

* * *

To me, a relationship between two people is one of the greatest gifts anyone can have. There are a lot of people, like me, who don't even have any. Not one. And then there are some who have more than they need. 

But what always gets me angry is how much people abuse their friendships, and take it for granted. Lying, cheating, stealing. I always watched it happen within my school. Someone will be a friend with another person, and then they fight with them for no reason, causing their friendship (for who knows how many years long) to completely vanish. And then they would just go ahead and become friends with someone else, not giving a shit about what happened to their former acquaintance.

I know that those kind of people don't realize what they have, and how much others wish for even one person to care for, and to receive those feelings in return. That's what I hate about people in this time; they always seem to find a way to screw a relationship up, and then just go on to the next person.

Maybe if I had a chance at having as many friends as they do, I'd be the same. But that'll never happen, so it doesn't matter what I think.

* * *

After walking through the hot city, I finally arrived at my destination. I stopped in front of a house larger than mine. I stared at it, head craned back hoping to see up past the enormous amount of stairs that glowed under the sunlight. 

I glanced back down at the crumbled piece of paper in my hands, and looked back up to the same address engraved in the mailbox. Shoving the paper back into my old jean pocket, I began my trek up the stairs. When I finally reached the top, my legs were sore and I was breathing heavily.

Damn, I hate being such a weak human.

I walked right up to the front door, noticing a shrine house to the side. I went up the small steps to the porch and rang the doorbell. Sighing, I switched my weight to one foot and waited patiently until I saw an older woman open the door.

She instantly smiled at me. "Oh, you must be Inuyasha. I'm Kagome's mother." She opened the door and gestured for me to walk inside. "Come on in, we're just about to have lunch."

I walked in, instantly smelling what seemed to be macaroni and cheese coming from the kitchen.

I heard footsteps and stole a glimpse to the right to see Kagome coming down the stairs, smiling. Why was she smiling, I had to wonder. I thought she would be grouchy all day and I would have to listen to her bitching about last night.

"Hi, Inuyasha! Come have lunch with us." She grabbed my arm, which I instantly tensed to, and she pulled me into the kitchen, completely oblivious to my reaction.

I saw a small boy already eating at the table with a large bowl placed in front of him.

He turned and smiled at me. "Hi, I'm Sota." He said.

I acknowledged him with a slight nod.

Kagome walked over to the counter and pulled out two bowls from a cabinet.

"How much do you want, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as she started scooping some noodles from the pot.

"Um, well, I'm not really that hungry," I said.

"Oh, go on and have some, Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said, suddenly appearing beside me.

I didn't say anything. I _was_ hungry. I didn't eat anything today. Not like we had anything to eat at me house.

Kagome grabbed the two bowls and set them on the table. "Come on and eat," she said.

I went and sat down next to her, instantly digging into the noodles.

"So, Inuyasha," Kagome said, "I figured we could go to the library today. Not much we can do here anyways. So after we're done eating, we'll go, okay?"

"Keh." I responded.

"Inuyasha?" I looked up to find Kagome's brother across from me, eating. "Are you Kagome's boyfriend?" he asked bluntly.

I almost choked on the macaroni, and I felt a blush rising to my cheeks. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Kagome's face just as red.

"Now, Sota, don't ask that," Mrs. Higurashi said as she sat down next to the boy, scolding him.

"No, we're just friends," Kagome said.

I froze. My spoon was in mid-air and I could only just stare at the table. Did she just say...?

She did. Kagome just said…we were _friends_. How could that be? She doesn't even know that much about me. She doesn't know _anything_. Heck, she probably doesn't even know my last name.

I looked over to see her eating happily away, talking to her mother about something related to our project. I didn't listen though. My thoughts were rolling over and over again on what she had just said.

There's no way she could be a friend, or even think of me as one. The way I yelled at her last night in the park…friends don't do that. So we're not friends.

But…she thinks so. She just said it out loud, said it as if it wasn't a problem. As if it wasn't any big deal at all, and everything would just be great between us.

No. I can't let that happen. We can't be friends. No way in Hell. Yes, I would like her as a friend. Who wouldn't? She's nice, and she cares for people, and….

I shook my head mentally and cleared that thought. Keh, I'm starting to get all mushy.

"You alright, Inuyasha?"

I looked up to see Kagome staring at me. I nodded and gave her a weak smile, finishing the rest of my meal in silence.

She had finished too, and grabbed my bowl and headed to the sink, washing them and putting them in the dishwasher.

Her words still kept ringing through my head as I watched her. They were like a never-ending alarm to wake me from some nightmare, and yet I couldn't find the off button. I couldn't allow myself to be friends with her, and I couldn't let her think we were.

If we _did_ become friends, I would just lose her in the end. Just like how I lose everyone who has been close to me in my life, or even tries to be nice to me.

She turned back to me and I stood up out of the chair.

"Ready to go?" she asked, drying her hands with a small blue towel.

"Sure," I said.

"Ok," she said and started walking out of the kitchen. "Bye mom, bye Sota!"

"Goodbye. Nice meeting you, Inuyasha," she said. I turned my head to see her smiling at me.

I decided to be nice, "You too."

I walked to the front door to find Kagome already outside, holding the door open for me. I nodded at her in thanks as we walked out and headed down those stupid steps of hers and onto the sidewalk.

I heard jingling, and looked at her hand as she fumbled through a pair of keys in her hand, and hit a button, causing a small blue vehicle in front of us to blink its lights.

"You have a car?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yep." She walked in the driver's side, while I opened the door on the opposite side and jumped in. This amde me so much happier. I thought we would've walked the whole way into the city, but this is so much better.

As she buckled her seatbelt and started the car, she said, "My mom bought me the car, but I have to pay for the gas and stuff. That's why I work at Stardeer."

I buckled my seatbelt and watched as she turned the signal on and headed into traffic. Then I leaned back in my seat and looked out the side of my window as we left her house.

"You know, you should come to Stardeer sometime. I could give you a discount."

I looked over to see her smiling. I looked back to the side window. Why was she talking to me like we were friends? We weren't, damn it. She knew nothing about me.

And then, without realizing it, I asked her something. "So, where's your dad? Is he out working?" I mentally slapped myself. Damn, I was starting a conversation. I shouldn't be doing this. I'm just here so we can do this dumb-ass project and get it over with. Then we'll be off with our separate lives, and she won't even acknowledge the rude kid whom she once tried to befriend.

I immediately saw her face drop. "He doesn't live with us anymore," she said softly, stopping at a red light. She turned to look at me, and my heart dropped at the look in her eyes. She sighed. "He died when I was really little." She looked back to the road in front of her and made a left into the main city.

My gaze dropped to my lap. I knew the feeling. And seeing the look in her eyes, I'm guessing she was probably really close to her dad.

Like how I was close to my mother.

Funny how life works out. It steals things from you when it is least expected. Then you're left with nothing to hold on to. That's why I learned I should never get too attached to anyone. If I ever do, they'll just be taken away from me. That's when I lose the game.

At least Kagome had a nice family. Her mother and brother were very kind and generous, and they seemed to really care.

Suddenly a stab of jealousy raced through my heart. But like all the other stabts I've gotten from that feeling, there was nothing I could do. _Every_body has a better lifestyle than I do. I should've gotten used to it years ago.

"So, it's just me, my brother, and my mother at the shrine," she continued after a long silence. "My grandfather is in the hospital right now."

I heard her sigh, and then I watched as she put a smile on her face. "So, enough sad things. Tell me about your family."

I crossed my arms over my chest; turning my head away from her and looking out of the window.

"Aint none of your damn business," I replied gruffly. What right did she have to ask me about my family? I hated it whenever people asked about it. Even in elementary school, when we had to make a family tree, I couldn't do it. Because even then, I thought I didn't have a real family.

"God, Inuyasha, I was only wondering. You don't have to get so defensive about it," she said, a noticeable amount of hurt in her voice. I immediately felt bad.

"You got that right, wench." I regretted the words immediately as they left my mouth.

I glanced over at her, to see her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly and her mouth set in a tight line. Uh-oh…

I didn't even notice that we had already parked in front of the large library.

She turned towards me, and had a glare that caused me to cringe inside. "Don't call me that! I'm only being nice to you, once again, and you're being a jerk!"

"Keh," I said as I walked out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I started walking towards the library.

I heard her slam the door too, and then I noticed her walking beside me, still glaring. "I should at least get on apology," she said.

"Keh," I said, "Let's just get this project over with." I heard her groan with frustration.

I followed her as she opened the door and pushed it roughly to the side. She then stomped on in, her fists clenched at her sides.

God, that bitch is so annoying. Why the hell does she expect me to tell her about my family? I could be over exaggerating, but that doesn't matter. Just because she told me hers, doesn't mean she has to know everything about my life.

No one does.

She immediately started looking through the shelves for books. I followed suit, but did so in a different bookshelf.

I went to the history section, and looked for books based on early Japanese history. I immediately found four old books, shoved them into my arms, and walked over to the table where Kagome was already at, reading a book while two others were stacked up in front of her.

I sat down across from her, stacking my pile beside me and grabbed the first book on top, opening it to the index.

I skimmed through, looking for anything about the Shikon no Tama.

I noticed Kagome get up in front of me, and I glanced up to see her walk to a desk, grab a couple sheets of paper and two pencils, then walked back. When I met her eyes, she was glaring at me.

"Here," she said gruffly, putting the paper and pencils down in front of us.

I went back to the book, and flipped through it, finding a couple pages on the Sacred Jewel.

I started taking notes, and from the sound of it, so was Kagome. I then noticed how quiet the library was. There were only a couple of other girls at another table far off, giggling quietly to themselves, and an old man at the front desk. That was about it.

And when I looked up again minutes later, I cracked my knuckles to give my hand a break from writing, and noticed a man, probably around my age, walking over to us. Actually, his eyes were set on Kagome.

And let me tell you, I already hated him just from the look he was giving her.

He took a seat next to her, and I noticed a sidelong glance at me. Kagome looked up and smiled at him.

"Hey beautiful," he said, causing her to blush, "Let me tell you, your radiance of beauty is more than anything I could have imagined." I glared at him, but he never looked at the look I was giving him. He just took her hand and held it in both of his.

"Um…uh, thank you." She said, averting her eyes to the book, which lay open in front of her.

"Hey, back off dumb-ass," I suddenly said a little too loud, causing both people in front of me to snap their heads up, "We're trying to work here, so leave."

"Shh," someone said. I looked up to see the old man at the desk giving me a death look with a finger to his lips. I ignored him and looked back at the asshole that was still holding Kagome's hand. Even though I was staring at him, I could still feel Kagome's heated glare staring at me.

"Eh, you got a point. I don't want to start a fight in the library of all places." He turned his attention back to Kagome and smiled, "My name is Koga, by the way," he said, "May I ask yours?" I noticed how their hands were still together.

"Kagome," she said. Her face was still red, and I was about to yell at this 'Koga' to leave again when he stood up and started to walk away.

"I'll talk to you sometime later, Kagome!" He said with a wave and I watched as he walked out of the building, taking one last look back.

When he left, Kagome turned around and slammed her hands on the table. In a forced whisper, she muttered, "I can't believe you Inuyasha! He was just being nice and you had to yell at him. What is your problem?"

I leaned forward; my brows furrowed, and said in a soft, but harsh voice, "Nothing the fuck is wrong with me, wench. He shouldn't be talking to you, we have work to do, damn it."

Kagome leaned a little forward to, her face suddenly close to mine, but we did not pay attention to the fact that we could feel each other's breath on our faces.

"Well he didn't know," she said, her voice a seething whisper, "I was going to ask him nicely to leave so we could continue working, but after not even talking to us for like five seconds, you go ahead and practically yell at him!"

"Well that dumb-ass should've known," I said loudly, ignoring the man at the desk trying to shush me. "He practically had his hands all over you. And I can't work while you idiots are flirting right in front of me!"

"What the heck is wrong with you? Whenever someone tries to be nice, you have to get angry and start yelling!"

I leaned even closer, and said softly, "Don't tell me what to do, bitch."

I saw her eyes flash with a furious anger, and she opened her mouth to retort when we both got tapped on the shoulder. At the same time, we both looked to the side, and saw the man standing there with his arms crossed.

"I suggest you both leave before you upset me or any more people." I looked around to see a bunch of kids at bookcase near us, staring with wide eyes, and a couple of other older adults stealing hesitant glances.

I heard a book slam shut, and looked over to see Kagome piling the books together and shuffling the papers together in neat, separate piles.

She smiled at the man. "Sure, we'll leave, "she said, and I was almost shocked to hear her sweet voice after being so angry with me.

The man walked away, and she turned her head to watch him walk back to the main desk. Suddenly, her head jerked back around, and she was glowering at me.

She stood up and gathered the books in her arms. "Look what you did, Inuyasha," she said softly as she passed me, putting the book away on a rack.

I growled in my chest, something I only did when I was in my hanyou form. I picked up my books and shoved them on the return rack. Then I walked back to the table, to find only my paper still there. I looked up to see Kagome walking away.

"Oi!" I yelled, ignoring the dirty look I got from the librarian and picked up my papers and ran after her outside.

She was walking to her car, one arm holding the papers, and the other tight at her side, her fist clenched.

I entered the car the same time she did, and as we both slammed our doors shut, she started the engine and then turned and glared at me.

"Oh, now you want a ride after the way you treated me?" she yelled.

I crossed my arms and leaned back into the seat, glaring outside as I muttered, "Damn it wench, just drive."

"No," she said, "I'm not driving you anywhere until you give me an apology."

I looked at her and said, "Why should _you_ get one?"

"Because I haven't done anything," she yelled, "And every time I try to have a conversation with you, you get mad at me for no reason!" My eyes widened when I realized that tears were coming to her eyes. She continued, "You think that it's okay to just yell at someone for no reason, but we have feelings too!"

A tear strolled down her cheek. I didn't know what to do. Guilt was sprinting through my heart, and I couldn't push it away.

She leaned her elbow on the armrest and put her forehead into her palm, slowing shaking her head as she said, "Do you realize how much it hurts to have someone yell at you randomly?" I saw another tear run down her arm.

"Oi…" I said softly, confused as hell as to what to do.

She sniffed and sat up, rubbing her eyes, and then starting the car. "Look, just forget about it," she said quietly, backing out of the parking space, "I'll just take you back to my house and we can finish the stupid project."

I stared at her for a while. She didn't notice, of course, since she was too busy looking at the street while pulling out of the parking lot, and turning the corner to the main road. When she glanced at me, I quickly turned my head away from her.

It was awkward.

Very awkward.

I didn't know what to say or do. I've never really said sorry before in my life, and right now, even as Kagome just cried before me, I can't find the will to do so. I don't get it, why is it so hard to say one simple little word?

Kagome reached her hand and pushed the on button to the stereo. It was on a radio station right now, and the DJ was talking about traffic.

"Alright guys," the voice said, "Time to listen to one of my favorites. Here's Snow Patrol with 'Chasing Cars,'"

The song started to play. I never really hear music. I think my dad might have an old stereo in the basement or something, but I don't really have anything to listen to music with. Occasionally I hear music from ipods during class when they have the music up full blast, but that's it.

I decided I like this song. It was kind of corny. But in a strange way, I think that's why I like it.

"This is one of my favorites," Kagome said. I looked over at her to see her smiling. Damn, she sure quickly got over her bad mood.

All I did was nod. The song ended, and Kagome stopped the car. I looked around to see that we were in front of the shrine.

I unbuckled my seat belt and walked out of the car. With papers in hand, we walked into her house, which was empty except for Sota, and she led me up to her room.

I walked in, and was instantly greeted with a vanilla smell. It was nice. I almost smiled.

"Okay," Kagome said, putting all of our papers on her desk and sitting down in front of her computer, "Lets look for some images for the poster," and then she turned the computer on.

I walked over behind her, and watched as she signed onto the Internet, and began searching for the Shikon Jewel.

We found a lot of pictures, most of them drawn from monks ages ago. After printing them off, Kagome stood up. "I'm going to go get a poster board," she said as she walked out of the room.

Already bored, I walked around her room, finding a bunch of picture frames on her dresser. There were some of her and Sango, and most of her family. My eyes passed a picture with Kagome in a bathing suit on the beach with Sota, and I could've sworn I blushed.

One picture abruptly grabbed my attention. It was a photo of her whole family, probably taken years ago. Kagome was a small kid, and there was a baby in Mrs. Higurashi's arms that I guessed was Sota. Her grandpa looked a lot younger too. But there was another man in the picture, with his arm around Mrs. Higurashi.

Must've been Kagome's father. He and his daughter looked exactly alike. Even though she was a cute little kid, I could see all the similarities between them. And the biggest one was their smile. It lit both their faces up and amde it seem like there were lights shining on them.

"Okay, Inuyasha," the sound of Kagome's voice startled me, and I snapped my head to the side to see her walk in the room with a poster board, glue, and scissors in her hands.

She sat down on the floor, the pictures spread out before her. She began cutting the pictures out.

I plopped down across from her, and began to cut some pictures also.

It was silent for a littler bit; the only sound was Sota playing his video games downstairs.

At least it isn't awkward.

"Inuyasha, I was wondering," she said, "Is there a reason why you're always so angry?"

Never mind.

"What?" I asked, jerking my head upwards.

She had her head down, avoiding eye contact with me. I had stopped cutting, but she kept going. She looked hesitant at first, and then slowly, she looked up. "Well, I've heard…how you yell at people for no reason. When I was assigned to do this project with you, I thought they were all wrong…." She trailed off, looking back down to start gluing some pictures on the board.

"Keh, people are stupid." I said, crossing my arms. "They just never know when to shut up. So what else am I supposed to do, wench?" I didn't mean for it to come out so harshly, but it was too late. She looked up, and my heart dropped to my stomach when I saw those tears threatening at her eyes again. _Again_. For what, the fiftieth time in the past two days?

"I don't get it," she said gently, "Why is it that you get mad when people try to be friends with you? I've heard people talking-"

"Oh, so those bastards talk about me?" I said, "Figures."

"Inuyasha, listen to you!" Kagome suddenly yelled, causing me to jump at the sudden outburst. "You talk as if other people's feelings don't matter at all!" she yelled, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "You're so selfish! Don't you realize how people get hurt from your words!" As an afterthought, she added quietly, "Especially me..."

That stung me. Her words sliced through me like a knife through hot butter, causing my insides to lurch. She was crying now, sniffing uncontrollably as she finished gluing the poster together. The whole time, I was silent, the same sentence rolling through my head, _I'm just like my father._

How I hate that man, and yet, I'm like him. Kagome's words were true…and they hurt

Another sniffle caught me out of my trance, and I saw how Kagome's cheeks and eyes were red.

"Oi," I softly said, "D-don't cry."

She looked up. "Why do _you_ care?" she snapped. Okay, I deserved that….

Looking down to the side, I heard her whisper, "Inuyasha, what's wrong?" I looked up, my eyes in question.

She seemed to notice that, and continued, her voice still a silent murmur, "I've seen you around school, Inuyasha. You always look sad, you always look…as…as if nothing is ever right." Her words surprised me.

She noticed?!

Her eyes were searching through mine, and I almost gave in to her teary orbs that were pleading for reassurance. I don't know how long she looked at me like that, but it was comforting, to know that she's worried about me. I could see it in her eyes, and it almost thrilled me.

How long has it been since someone cared?

But why would she? She hardly knows me, and we've just talked for about a day or so. She has no reason to care at all.

But her eyes…they proved me wrong.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered, "You can tell me anything, and I hope you know that."

"Keh, you wouldn't understand," I said, and instantly got frusterated with myself. I just basically told her something was wrong. Shit, shit, shit.

She rubbed at her eyes, and I was relieved to know she was no longer crying.

"Maybe I will. It doesn't hurt to try," she said, looking at me with beseeching eyes.

"Yes it does," I said.

"But Inu-"

"Drop it, wench," I said, gathering all the scraps of paper and tossing them in the garbage behind me.

When I turned back around, she was staring at me. She nodded at me, and added a couple more pictures on the board while saying, "It's okay. You can tell me later if you want."

I knelt beside her and helped her glue everything on. When we were done, she grabbed a pen from her desk and began writing captions under the pictures.

My thoughts were running everywhere, even when we began typing up our presentation. Everything she said, everything she showed me through her eyes…everything was just flying through me.

The thought that most surprised me is that she cares. I mean, how can she care? She hardly knows me, and we are not friends (even though she seems to think so). However, it seems that she knows so much about me, from just looking. Am I that visible about my saddened emotions?

But nobody else has ever said anything to me, so maybe I'm not.

What also nagged at my head was when she said; "You can tell me later if you want." What makes her think there will be a 'later?' We are never going to see each other again. We are never going to talk, or even look at each other again. We're not even friends, so there's not even a future with her.

I glanced at her, her eyes staring intently on her computer screen and typing insanely fast. How could this one girl care so much about someone who doesn't even want to be near her? How does she do it?

But one thing was for sure in my mind, even though I am completely against the idea of having a friend, I hope we'll meet up again sometime.

But that'll be impossible, because she's just going to leave me. She's going to abandon me just like everyone else.

* * *

Ta-dah! Yay, finally a little bit of action. And now form here I can go into the dramas of high school life. And plus there's homecoming coming up...hehe. 

So I'm not getting as many responses to this story as I would've liked. One review...jeese. Well, like 10 people put me on story-alert, so I want you guys to actually review. It really makes me happier.

And your reviews will help determine if this story should go on from here or not.

**Every Heart**


	3. Chapter 3

**Silent Darkness**  
Chapter 3

* * *

When do you know that someone is your friend? Is it just automatic? Or does it take several days for even a hint of the relationship to develop?

I see most people hang out with the person they just met the day before, and suddenly everything is 'just right.' But the thing I don't understand is how they do that. How do they trust so easily? It's not unusual for someone to get in a fight with their friend over nothing at all. I've watched it happen over and over again.

I always watch these things happen. Watch as something grows and then either falls apart or stays there for who knows how long. I'm always on the sideline commentating to myself on what occurs among my fellow students.

When will I stop being the critic and actually be the actor?

* * *

"The Shikon no Tama was a very powerful jewel created five hundred years ago," Kagome said, smiling before the class, "And it was said to be one of the greatest gifts of all time, and yet one of the worst. Whoever held the jewel in their hand could grant any wish they want. And this wish had no limits."

"Demons searched endlessly for it," I began, already feeling uncomfortable under all the watchful eyes, "Every demon wanted it. Monks wrote many documents on how demons spent their entire lives looking for this small jewel, and yet all of them failed. They either could never find it, or their lives were ended by the priestess who guarded the jewel."

"Her name was Kikyo," added Kagome, "And she shot down and killed every demon who even attempted to obtain the Shikon Jewel. Her whole life revolved around the Shikon no Tama. She even died with it. The documents we read stated that she was injured one time by a powerful demon, and in order to protect the jewel in her afterlife and not have it in the wrong demon's hands; she was burned with the jewel."

That's when Kagome held up the poster board, pointing at some of our pictures while I read the captions. I felt nervous under everyone's eyes, but I'm sure it did not show. Every time I took a small glance up at Kagome, she was smiling, either at me or the board. And every time I met her eyes for just a brief second, sadness overwhelmed me, knowing I will never talk to this nice girl again.

As I finished speaking, signaling the end of our presentation, the class lazily clapped, some either half or fully asleep.

Letting Kagome take care of the poster board, I slowly walked back to my seat. I sat there and watched as Kagome stood next to the teacher's desk, waiting anxiously for Mrs. Hidarisko to grade our presentation.

Mrs. Hidarisko handed the paper back to Kagome, and she looked it, eyes moving back and forth across it. A grin immediately lit up her face.

The bell rang, indicating the end of class. Everyone got up, including me, to finally get out of the room. Already from the look on Kagome's face, I knew we got a good grade. I don't need to take the time and talk to her about it.

As she went over and got her stuff, I walked out of the room, feeling my heart sink as I realized that I will never talk to her again. She will never recognize me nor greet me. Just as well. Even if we did stay together as friends, we would've lost it.

* * *

It seemed like twenty hours later when lunch finally came. My stomach was grumbling, but all we had in our house was Lucky Charms and Twinkies. Grabbing the Twinkie out of my backpack and shutting my locker, I headed down the noisy hallway and to the lunchroom.

Ever since I left my first hour this morning, I've been regretting it. Maybe I could have tried harder to keep Kagome as a friend. Or maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her so much last weekend. But it's all over now, and what's done is done. There's nothing more I can do.

I'll admit that I kept looking for her in the hallways, but I never saw her. Never found her. And afterwards when I sat down in my second hour class, I thought of how stupid I was. What could I have possibly said to her if I _did_ see her? Probably nothing at all. Like always.

"Inuyasha!" My heart jumped as I stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to see Kagome smiling and walking towards _me_. Of all other people in this hallway, it was me. The asshole that called her names, yelled at her for no reason, and ran away from her.

When she reached me, she smiled and said, "We got a straight A. I'd thought you'd want to know." I could feel my face drop. That's all she wanted. She just wanted to tell me we got an A.

"That's good," I mumbled and started walking the way back to the cafeteria.

"Hey, wait," Kagome said, and that surprised feeling returned as I faced her again. "Why do you keep walking off on me?"

I shrugged. "Nothing really to say," I said, noticing as she stayed beside me even though the people we passed waved and said hi to her. She of course waved back, but stayed with me. Why not go for them?

"So where are you going now?" She asked.

"Lunch."

She smiled, "Me too. Want to sit with me?" she asked.

I almost stopped walking, but caught myself. I turned and looked at her. "You sure?"

Her smile never left. "Of course."

We turned the corner and headed into the lunchroom, the smells and laughter instantly filling my senses. Since we had a rather large school, the cafeteria was huge. Long square tables were lined up on all sides, and already the room was packed full. I would always sit among people I don't know, never saying anything, just keeping to myself. Or I'd start doing my homework. Either one, it was lonely and frustrating.

But I actually get to sit with someone. Wait, should I say no? What am I going to do, _talk_ to her? My verbal skills suck, and it's going to be awkward if we just sit there in silence. Maybe it'll be better to just go and sit by myself over there…

However, when she started walking to a side of the room, I followed, not knowing why. "You know Sango?" she asked, glancing back.

"I know of her," I replied, still wondering about my actions.

Kagome stopped and sat down at one end of a long table. I saw the familiar Sango sitting across from her. I was hesitant at first, until Kagome patted the seat next to her, and I followed suit.

"Sango, I'm sure you know Inuyasha," Kagome said.

Instead of complaining of how fucked up I am, Sango smiled at me, and said, "Yes I do. Hey Inuyasha."

I nodded at her and just looked down, opening my Twinkie and eating it.

"O-m-g, no way, Kariko!" I glanced to my side, suddenly tuned in to the group of cheerleaders sitting close to me.

A brunette girl, who was presumably Kariko, in a cheerleading uniform leaned forward in the table, grinning and saying, "I know! I like just heard it, like just now, and I was like o-m-g!"

Her friends all came in closer, all the same looks on their faces. Another one exclaimed, "I can't believe he's like…_gay_!"

Kariko nodded. "I know, I couldn't like believe it either. Hojo was such a cute guy too, I mean, I like wanted to date him, but now I'm like…_EW_."

"You okay, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

Snapping out of my trance, I looked over at her, and said, "Yeah, just listening to them." I nodded my head towards their direction.

"But have you like seen that new guy?" the brunette asked again, "He is so much hotter than Hojo."

Kagome giggled, and I looked at her. She smiled at me, "I love to listen to them talk like that."

Sango smiled. "Yeah, I pretty much have the whole cheerleading team in my second hour. Talk about pure Hell."

"Nah, pure hell is listening to Mrs. Hidarisko lecture us about some dead guy," I said.

Kagome giggled, and I almost smiled in triumph.

"You guys did so good on your project," Sango said, "I mean, me and Miroku only got a B."

Kagome shrugged. "It's okay. I thought you guys did really good."

"Well, it's Miroku's fault anyways. He's the one who couldn't keep his hands off me the whole time we were trying to work! At least _I_ was."

I just about choked on my Twinkie, and Kagome and Sango both looked at me with amused faces.

Kagome started laughing again, the sweet sound filling my ears, causing my heart to beat a little harder. That's weird. Why's it doing that?

"You see," Kagome said, "Miroku's obviously had this thing for Sango for years-"

"No!" Sango retorted, blushing. "He does this to every other girl, not just me-"

"And Sango _obviously_ has this thing for Miroku so-"

"I do not!"

Kagome smiled and waved Sango off. She leaned closer to me and whispered, "She does."

I smirked.

"Wait, what does he actually _do_ to you?" I asked.

"What he does to every other girl in his sight," Kagome said with a grin, "He gropes them."

I started laughing, and for once, it felt good. When was the last time I laughed, I wonder? Maybe when I was little before my mother died…but sitting here, with someone I barely know and another who I pretty much just met, I'll confess that I'm having a good time. Nothing much was said, but that doesn't matter.

It's the fact that they don't care I'm a complete asshole. Or maybe they do, but they're hiding the aggravated emotions on their face. Either way, I'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Who knows if this'll happen tomorrow?

"Uh oh, here he comes Sango, better fix your hair," Kagome said and Sango instantly blushed, jerking her head from side to side looking for Miroku. I saw him walking towards us over the top of her frantic head.

"Hello, how are you ladies?" Miroku said as he sat down next to his 'lover.'

"I'm fine, Miroku," Kagome said when Sango said nothing, "But I don't think Inuyasha appreciates you calling him a 'lady.'"

Miroku looked at me, and I instantly felt nervous. Last time I talked to Miroku was when he offered to be my friend and I shoved it in his face. What does he think of me now?

Miroku cleared his throat. "Oh, ahem, sorry Inuyasha."

I shrugged it off.

"Oh my god, there he is!" shrieked Kariko out of nowhere. Curious, I followed her pointed finger to the cafeteria door, and muttered a profound word as I saw no other than that Koga standing there, grinning like the ass he is. What the hell is he _here_ for?

"O-m-F-g, he is like so hot!" Kariko kept saying. The other girls just nodded.

I turned back around. "God, they're so annoying," I muttered, putting my head in my hands.

"Who?" Miroku asked.

I looked up and pointed my thumb at the cheerleaders. Miroku followed my finger and grinned. "Wow, they are a pack of fine specimens."

He was about to get up, but Sango pushed him down. He looked at her with an incredulous look.

"You already tried your luck with them last week," Sango said.

"Yes, and they laughed and basically told me they liked it," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well…" Sango stammered.

"Just stay here Miroku; they're obsessing over whoever they're looking at anyways," Kagome said, earning a thankful look from Sango and a defeated sigh from Miroku.

"Oh, is that Koga?" Kagome asked to no one in particular. I snapped my head up, and wanted to direct her attention away from the evil bastard, but it was too late. She stood up and started waving at him. I looked over my shoulder, saw him look this way, find her, and started walking towards us with a smirk on his pathetic face.

Damn.

Kagome sat back down, except on the opposite side of her seat, facing Koga.

"Great, now we have to deal with him," I muttered.

Kagome glared at me. "He's new to this school, we should help him out." She smiled as he came even closer. "I know you guys had a bad start, but maybe you can start over."

I groaned.

"Kagome!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kagome stand up and _hug_ the cocky idiot. How could she stand it?

"Hey Koga, how are you?"

"I'm wonderful now that I've found you."

I almost gagged, and was furious when I saw Kagome's face turn red.

"So are these your friends?" Koga asked, indicating Sango and Miroku. I don't think he's seen me yet.

Kagome smiled. "Yeah, this is Sango, Miroku," and then she pointed at me, "and I'm sure you remember Inuyasha."

What surprised me was when I was referred to as her friend again. Again! But that all disappeared as soon as I saw a small glimpse of hatred behind Koga's eyes.

"Hey asshole," I said.

"Inuyasha!" Both Kagome and Sango exclaimed.

"What?" I asked, confused. Why is it such a bad thing to say hi to this guy? It's not like that name is a bad thing. I bet he's gotten worse. I was just being nice, they don't have to get all worked up about it.

"Hey jackass," Koga responded.

"Koga!" Kagome said.

"What's their problem?" Miroku asked Sango. I looked over and glared at them.

Sango shrugged, ignoring the look I was giving her. "I don't know," she said.

"They just didn't meet eye to eye the other day," Kagome said quickly, and then turned back to Koga, "So how's your first day going?" I guess she tried to alter the conversation to a more positive route. Now why won't he just leave? Nothing over here for him.

God, listen to me. I sound like I'm talking as if Kagome and Sango, and even Miroku are my friends. They're not, damn it! Why am I acting like this? Why am I even over here?

He shrugged. "It's alright. But now it's so much better now that I know you go here." He gave her a sheepish grin, and I felt the helpless pleading from within my heart that wanted me to stand up and shove him into the nearest garbage can. At least he'll smell better.

"So how do you two know each other?" Sango asked.

"We met at the library," Kagome answered.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and I was immediately grateful for it. For a second there, Koga's hand was inching down Kagome's back. She doesn't deserve to be molested by some creep.

Kagome smiled at Koga, "Well, I'll see you later, Koga. Maybe we have a class together." She smiled, waved, and walked off. I just stood there, glaring at Koga's face, with him giving me the same intense look back, until I heard Kagome call my name. Turning my head I gave her a questioning look.

"You coming? We have creative writing together, don't we?" Smiling in my head at the fact that she remembered that small piece of information, I followed her, giving Koga one last glower as we headed out of the crowded cafeteria. I had forgotten earlier that we had one more class together. I guess this means I'll see her again after all. But how much longer after this class will she keep talking to me like this?

What if she's doing all of this just because she feels bad? What do I do then?

Damn, there are so many unanswered questions! I can't fucking do all of this. And yet here I am, following her around like some lost puppy.

"I really don't get why you guys just can't be friends," Kagome remarked as we walked along the now noisy hallway.

"Keh. Nobody can be your friend right off the bat," I said.

"I think you need to have more faith in people," she said.

I looked at her, "I think you need to have less."

"Why is that?" she asked, stopping at a locker and turning the lock to its precise numbers.

"Because you can't just suddenly trust someone right when you meet them. It's not like you know who or what they are." I was surprised at how easy it was to talk to her like this. Maybe I was getting used to it. Maybe I'm on crack. Who knows? With all the shit my dad brings home, I might've caught too much of a whiff of it.

She sighed as she opened her locker, grabbed her books, and then turned and looked at me. "Did you not trust me when we first met?" she asked.

"'Course not," I replied with ease.

She slammed her locker shut, and pouted as we started walking in the direction of my locker.

She was silent, and I kept looking over to see if for one, she was still with me, and two, if she was crying. Every time I looked away I heard her sniff.

When we got to my locker, I put my hand on the lock, but stopped and turned my head towards her. "What the hell is wrong?" Came out a little angrier than I expected, but I think by the way she did not react to screaming told me she's getting used to it.

If she's getting used to my attitude, then is she getting used to me? I wonder what she thinks of me. She is talking me like nothing is wrong at all, and she's referred to me as her friend two or three times. It's quite possible that this friendship is actually something, but every little thing scares me. I'm scared of getting too angry, or being too nice, or even being too annoying. I want to be myself, and that's of course with the attitude changes (this I'll admit to myself).

It's like in a way, I want to be with her. With Kagome. I want to be her friend, I want to be someone she can talk to and hang around with, kind of like what she's doing right now. And kind of like what I see everyday in the hallways. But what'll happen when I lose her? What will happen when I go too far, and my heart hurts once again, pining over the person I might not have lost if it wasn't for my personality.

And a sudden dread stuck me like a lightning bolt. What the fuck am I doing? Here I am, talking to her like nothing, walking around with her, making her _think_ we're friends, and I still know what the consequences are going to be in the end. It's like my mind is switching back and forth between the two choices. I just can't make up my damn mind!

"It's nothing," Kagome said softly. I returned my head back to my locker, grabbing all my books, my mind now in frenzy.

As I shut my locker and turned towards her, she was looking at the ground, and my heart dropped as she said, "It just hurt."

"Wait, what did?" Damn, I have to stop caring about her. As soon as I stop caring about her, she'll forget about me and move on. We just both need to move on.

Her head slowly rose, and I was taken aback by the look she gave. "By what you said, you jerk!"

Confused as hell, I asked, "What'd I say?"

"That you didn't trust me when you met me."

I sighed and leaned against my locker. "Look, you can't blame me." What the hell was I saying?! "I just don't trust anyone."

Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to decide against it. Instead, she turned, and started walking to our next class without me. The bell then rang, signaling that we had two minutes before we were marked tardy.

I followed her, my mind saying one thing, my body doing another. "Hey-"

"So do you not trust me now?" she asked, facing me with water-filled eyes. "Are we not friends or something?"

I was confused as hell. And it made it worse by seeing the distraught look planted on her face, and it was only growing.

"Wha-I never said that!" I exclaimed. She started to walk faster.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her back though, making her walk the same speed as I was. "Damn, Kagome, don't cry," I pleaded as a tear was shown glistening on her cheek.

She yanked her arm out of my grasp, and furiously wiped the tears out of her eyes.

Noticing that she was walking fast again, I grabbed her arm, and stopped in the middle of the hallway, causing some people to suddenly alter their movement. We stood mere inches apart.

I couldn't describe this feeling that well. It's like every time I tried to grab a hold of it, it vanished. And I've had it every time I see Kagome like this. Every time I see her crying and upset, and all because of me.

And it was this feeling, that also caused me to lean in towards her ear, and whisper, "Damn it, Kagome, don't you know that I trust you with everything I have?" And I pulled back, seeing a surprised look on her face. Satisfied, I walked away, heading into the classroom. Without looking at anyone, I walked to the back table and sat down.

Crossing my arms, I stared thoughtlessly at the small notes people had scribbled on the desk while trying to make sense of what was happening inside of me. Yes, I want Kagome as a friend. No, I don't want to get hurt. Yes, I do trust her. No, I don't want to hurt her.

God, why does everything have to be so fucking confusing?! Maybe if I just tell her to back off, everything will be fine. She'll never speak to me again, and I can live on with my life, not fretting about what I'll do that'll make Kagome angry with me.

"Can I sit here with you?" I looked up to find no other than Kagome smiling and pointing to the two person desk I was sitting alone at. I shrugged, noting to myself that it's going to be hard to get her off of my back. And well, it's going to be hard to get me off of hers too.

The bell then rang as the teacher, Mr. Humperdink I think it was, walked in and shut the door behind him. He was a stout old man, with a craned back and wrinkles that covered his face and hid his small eyes. When he walked to the front of the room, I could no longer see him with everyone's heads in the way. He was that short.

"Alright class, time to start. Since last week was your first week back, we had no work. But now we're going to be starting on our first subject this semester: poetry!"

A bunch of muffled groans were answered to his enthusiastic voice.

"Oh come on, it's going to be fun! Today we'll go over the basics, and I'll tell you your homework afterwards. Okay, let's start."

So then for the next forty minutes, he sat there and told us everything about poetry and such. I had no interest in it. Poetry just wasn't my thing. So as he ran on and on about some useless shit none of us will even remember one day from now, I spent my time thinking about the Kagome situation. And after countless seconds and minutes bent on thinking on what to do, what to say, and how I'm going to do all of this, I came to one conclusion: keh.

That's it. My mind is split into two, and I think that's how it's going to be for some time. Maybe I should just give up and just be friends with Kagome. But then I could lose everything in just a second if I let my guard down or did something completely wrong and unnecessary.

It's not like Kagome can't be trusted. In fact, she is one of the nicest people I have ever seen. I mean, she lets slime balls like that 'Koga' touch her and even _talk_ to her. I don't see how she can stand it.

After what seemed like hours, and feeling defeated over my pointless thinking, I looked up at the clock and mentally groaned. We still had another fifteen minutes or so.

Leaning my head in the palm of my hand, I stared directly in front of me at who I recognized as Hojo, the guy the cheerleaders were talking about at lunch. He was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed, and what amused me the most was that every other second, his head would roll to a side, and he'd jerk it back up. He'd then look around at his surroundings (since he was awake for that one brief second), and then relax back into his original position.

I don't know how long I sat there watching as his head roll to one side, and then snap back up. When I heard a giggle, I turned my head slightly, and grinned at Kagome. She smiled back.

Finally, Hojo sat forward in his chair, and leaned his elbow on the desk and put his head in the palm of his hand. Nothing happened as he repositioned himself. But then, as if in slow motion, his whole body started to lean to the right. I waited in silent anxiety, as finally, too much weight gave way, and his head came slamming down into the desk. I let out a loud laugh, and heard Kagome do the same.

"Are you okay back there, Hojo?" Mr. Humperdink asked.

Several of the students who witnessed Hojo's attempts at staying awake laughed as Hojo gave a meek nod.

"Okay, so I hope that that is enough for all of you," Mr. Humperdink said. "Now your homework is to make a poem about anything at all. It doesn't have to be anything special. I'm just going to grade it for credit, and I'll give you extra credit if you read it in class." He paused and glanced up at the clock on the wall behind him. Turning back to the class and clapping his hands together, he said, "Well looks like we've got some time left. Go ahead and talk and do whatever you want."

As he walked back to his desk and the class got loud, Kagome mumbled "Well that was the only excitement I got this hour."

I nodded in agreement.

"Like oh my gosh, Kagome!" I looked over to find the slut cheerleader Kariko standing there with a gleaming look in her eye, kind of jumping on her toes in front of Kagome.

"Hi, Kariko," Kagome said politely. I rolled my eyes. This girl is too damn nice. To the douche bags like Koga, and to whores like Kariko. How does she do it?

"So, I like totally saw you like talking to that like totally hot guy at like lunch," she said, "And I was like wondering, if you wanted to come to like, my party Friday, and like bring him, and introduce us. Would that like be all right?"

Kagome smiled. "Sure, why not."

"Good." She looked over at me, and said, "You can like come too, like if you want."

I nodded.

She then walked off.

"Wow, only eleven this time," I said.

"What are you talking about?" Kagome asked.

I grinned at her, "I was counting how many times she said 'like.'"

Kagome laughed, and it pleased me to know that I made her happy, at least for this moment.

"Kagome!" she stopped laughing and looked towards the speaker. I also looked, and found Hojo turned around with a hand on the back of his seat, smiling at Kagome. He looked the same he did last year, and the year before that. He doesn't look gay to me. Must be a rumor….

"Hello, Hojo," Kagome said.

"Did you do something to your hair?" he asked. When Kagome shook her head in response, he smiled and said, "Oh, well it looks _fabulous_ on you!"

I snorted, and thought, wow, he _did_ turn gay.

"I love the layers, Kagome. It totally frames your face."

"Um, uh, thank you," she said, giving off a sweet smile.

He then looked at me, "You're Inuyasha, aren't you?" he asked.

I nodded.

He smiled, with a small twinkle in his eye, and then turned back around.

As soon as he was facing the other way, I started laughing to myself, causing Kagome to follow. And as I looked at her laughing, I couldn't think of a more beautiful person, both inside and out. And no matter how corny and weird that makes me seem, it's the truth.

I still have to decide if we should be friends for real or not. There's no doubt I want her to be one, but there's so much she doesn't know, and I know she'll find out some if not all of my secrets. And I can't let that happen.

But thinking about never seeing her again makes my heart twist into a tiny ball. I was never this indecisive before.

* * *

I know, it's been two weeks. I don't even like this chapter that much. But I have an explanation...

You see, I got sick. And then the days I missed at school, I had to do extra homework when I got home from softball. So I had no time then. Then my grandma had two strokes in one week, and that added more stress. And then my other grandma who has been dying of cancer got transferred into the hospital. And then I had softball tournaments during the weekend, had to take care of my grandma(the one who had the strokes moved in with us b/c she can't live on her own), then I had friend issues I had to fix. And then on top of all of that, I was insanely tired b/c I got like no sleep.

So I'm sorry. I kept writing a paragraph a day, and then last night I wrote out all the rest, and checked it just now. So, I hope its good enough.

Everything is fine now with my grandmas, and I'm back on track, so the weekly updates will come back. Next chapter will start to get interesting.

Oh, and like how I made Hojo gay? Haha, I think all of you can guess who he'll 'stalk with presents.' If not, you'll find out next chapter. hehe

Reviews will make me happy.

**Every Heart**


	4. Chapter 4

**Silent Darkness  
**Chapter 4

* * *

This happens to me every time. Every time I have a good day where something happens to me that brings the feelings of happiness I haven't had in a long time. Like good grades, or finding about my 'A' tests, or maybe just this girl that suddenly starts to talk to me and says that we're friends. When something like that happens, it feels like nothing can go wrong. 

But then it all flushes down that god damn toilet. All the feelings of happiness escape, leaving me with sorrow and hate. Then I start to do things I regret.

And this problem is the same every single time.

My dad.

* * *

Even when it is around eight o'clock at night, my restless mind is still thinking about the Kagome situation. And still, even after all these hours of pondering on how to act and what to do, my mind hasn't been made up. 

It's kind of ridiculous really. Here I am, spending hours on this one girl. What is she to me anyways? What special value can I receive from her? Years from now, at an old age, we probably won't even remember each other. Why care now?

I sighed, twirling my demon necklace in my finger, staring at my bedroom door opposite of where I was sitting on my bed. This confusion was really starting to get on my nerves. For one second, I would be set on one thing, and then the next second, I'll be against it.

Maybe Kagome and I will stay friends for a while. Eventually she'll fade away, but isn't it good enough to have such a caring person like her as a friend even for a brief period? A lot of people have tried to become friends with me, and I turned them all down. But there's something about this girl that makes me want to hold on to her. And I feel like there'll be a hole in my heart if I let her go. So that means I accept our friendship, right?

Then again, do I still really want to risk my feelings, just for a couple of years? Or maybe even a couple of months. Hell, it might even last a couple of days. Is it really worth it?

And both yes and no answered my silent question.

Frustrated, I sat up, and got out of my bed, sliding my necklace around my neck, and feeling the familiar power once again crawl its way to the outside of my skin. After my transformation was complete, I walked downstairs, turning on the lights as I went, and headed to the family room. Grabbing the remote off of the armrest and pushing the empty beer bottles on the dirty floor, I sat down on the holy couch and turned on the small television.

Flipping through the channels, I found nothing that peaked my interest. Leaning my elbow on the armrest, and setting my chin in the palm of my hand, I continued to go through the channels, now with half-closed eyes. Finally I stopped on the news channel, currently doing a report on what looked like a robbery or something of the sort.

"Police are looking more into this serious situation," the woman said with a squeaky voice. The camera pointed at a man and a woman, both obviously looking freaked out. "These two victims said that they were suddenly attacked on Main Street by a band of vicious looking criminals who surprisingly had no weapons."

The camera zoomed in on the two people, both holding each other as if they had just seen Hell itself. The reporter then said, "One person was killed in this accident, and the other two only got a few bruises and cuts on their body. They say that they were thankful the police found them soon enough, or else they would've been dead too."

"What the fuck are you watching?" I jumped at the sound of my dad's voice, and snapped my head to the side. I didn't even hear him come in.

I could tell he was bent up on drugs by the way he stood on an angle, the way his eyes were focusing in and out, and from the fierce-looking snarl that overtook his entire face.

"Just the news," I said, looking back at the TV and turning the volume up.

"Who says you can watch that damn thing?" he yelled, snatching the remote out of my hand and turning it off. Then he threw it on the floor, letting it hit the wall and implanting a black dent. "Damn, don't you know how much I have to god damn work to pay for the fucking bill for that shit?"

Realizing this wasn't a good time to talk to him; I stood up, and walked past him, intent on going upstairs and maybe falling asleep.

But he grabbed my arm, yanked it back, and brought his face dangerously close to mine. "You fucking shit, look at this fucking place! How can you expect your father to relax with this shit everywhere?"

Pulling my arm out of his tight grasp, I said with just as much venom, "You're the one that drinks this so called 'shit.' You pick it up. Not my problem." I waved him off with a flick of the hand and started walking once again upstairs. But as my foot touched the first step, I was pulled on the arm and yanked backwards. I lost my balance and fell on a bunch of empty glass bottles.

Looking up, my father was staring at me, his eyebrows arched. "Now listen here, boy, I'm paying for all of this, so I at least deserve to be fucking respected," he spat, and he kicked me hard in the gut. Glad I was in my demon form, I only lightly held onto my stomach, not feeling as much as I would have if I were in my human state.

"Are you even listening to me?" he yelled, kicking me again.

I said nothing, but just glared into his ferocious eyes. I wasn't about to back down for this bum.

"Damn it, Inuyasha," he said as he grabbed the front of my school uniform, and yanked me up to my feet. I lost my balance for a second, in which he pushed me again, causing my back to harshly hit the wall behind me.

"What the hell do you want?" I yelled. Why the fuck does he have to take it out on me? Why can't he just leave me alone every fucking time this happens? I don't deserve this, god damn it!

He walked up and punched me in the chest, releasing a small gasp from my mouth. Then he turned and walked towards the stairs. Only as he started walking up, he said, "Clean this place up, and when I come back down, it better be clean or you'll get an ass-whooping for sure."

Glaring at his back, I waited for the sound of the slamming of his bedroom door, and then I went to work, knowing by now that I have to listen to him sometimes, because I have gotten that 'ass-whooping' before, and they hurt like no other, even in my demon shape.

Grumbling to myself, I started to pick up all the bottles, and spent my time throwing them out in the trash can in the kitchen. All the while, I heard no sound from upstairs.

Keh, he probably passed out.

When I was done, satisfied with my work, I checked the time on the kitchen wall. It was nine o'clock. Well, since I have nothing else to do, I might as well go for a walk. Maybe it'll calm me down for a bit.

Taking off my necklace, I stuffed in my pocket, and walked out the door. As I slammed it shut behind me, I felt the weakness and pain from the forming bruises. God, I hate behind human.

* * *

Tonight was very quiet. There was no one at all in the park. It was only me, sitting there in the swing, moving back and forth slowly. 

At first I came here pissed off. Pissed at my father, pissed at Kagome, even pissed at myself. But now all my frustrated feelings were gone, and I was lazily staring up at the millions of stars above me.

I was tired. Too many things are going on, and Kagome's the main source of it all. God, why is she always in my mind now? Should I not care? I never did about anyone else, why her? Why suddenly this girl who probably feels nothing at all for me?

My face dropped as a thought came to me. What if she just feels bad for me? What if that's why she's always being nice to me? Is that the reason why she keeps talking to me?

Shit. If that's it, then this has to end now. I'm not spending my time with someone who doesn't like me for me. Well, who would?

Hearing a rustling noise, I jerked my head up from its slouched position, and turned to see the Devil herself sit on the swing beside me and smile. What, she faking that too?

"Hey Inuyasha," Kagome said, "Mind if I join you?"

I shrugged.

She was silent. But it was still so loud. My thoughts kept circling through my head, twisting around my brain. My mind still isn't made up.

I've only know her for so long. A week at most. Why should I trust her? Why should I let this girl be my friend? Who knows what will happen. She might hurt me. And like I said before, she probably doesn't even like me at all.

Does she just feel guilty? Or maybe it's sadness she feels?

"You okay, Inuyasha?" she asked. I bet that she was just acting out the 'concern' she was voicing.

I simply nodded in response, not having the urge to talk to her.

"You sure?" she asked again. I saw her feet shuffle along the sand close to mine, and then I felt her questioning eyes inches from my face. Glancing over, she had her head in the palm of her hands, elbows on her thighs. What got me though was the look of worry in her eyes. Don't ask how I know that, but…it's like her eyes were searching mine, like she did before.

So does that mean she really does care?

No, no, she can't. Who would? It must be something else.

Suddenly getting mad again, I forced my head to the side, looking away from her, saying in a harsh tone, "I'm fine, damn it."

"Hmm, you sure don't sound like it."

I turned back to her, ready to give her such a glare that it would scare her off.

But I was surprised on seeing a smile on her face. She wasn't mad. She wasn't annoyed. She wasn't even scared. I think she just wanted answers from me…and maybe to help?

No, that's not right.

"Keh, it's none of your damn business."

She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder about you. I mean, why do you get so angry at me for asking questions?"

"Because you ask too many!" I shouted.

That's when she started getting mad. I could see it slowly build up in her features. First she tried to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Then she clenched her fists, and then she sat up straight, moving away from me, crossing her arms.

"I can't believe you! I'm just trying to help!" She pouted.

I stood up and started walking away. I really don't need this. I left the sandbox the swings were on and went on the sidewalk.

"Hey, wait up!" I heard the movement of sand, and then the sound of footsteps behind me. Damn. She seriously just won't give up on anything.

When she fell in step beside me, I abruptly stopped, and turned to face her. "Did you ever think that some people just don't_ need_ help?" I said.

She crossed her arms and leaned on one foot. "I can tell something's bothering you, and I'm trying to figure out what's wrong-"

"I don't want to fucking tell you!" I shouted, emphasizing my words with the dramatic movement of my arms at my sides.

She looked like I slapped her in the face, and the next thing I noticed was the water in her shiny brown eyes.

But I kept on going, despite the look she was giving me, "Damn it, wench. You don't need to know everything about everyone. Just leave them alone."

"No, why would I? Friends help their friends with problems!"

"What makes you think we're friends?!" I yelled.

She was about to say something, and then stopped and closed her mouth.

"That's right, you have nothing," I said. I stared at her lowered eyes for another second, and when she said nothing (a small feeling of hope disappeared), I began to walk away.

But I was stopped by the yank of her hand on my arm. I stopped, and faced her.

"What do you mean we're not friends?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Look, Kagome," I said, my voice more quiet now, "I know you probably feel bad about me or something but-"

"Is that it?" she asked, surprise evident in her facial features, "You think I'm friends with you because I feel bad?"

"Keh," I said and crossed my arms, turning my head away, somewhat embarrassed at how easily she found out what I've been questioning.

I almost jumped when her hand softly touched my shoulder. She didn't move it. I felt the blush rising to my cheeks.

"I'll admit I felt bad for you at first," she said, "I mean, I heard about how mean you can get, and how you really have no one to hang out-"

"God, I don't need to hear this," I muttered, shrugging her hand off of my shoulder. I began to stomp away, hearing her rushed feet coming after me. Why is she so god damn persistent?!

"Inuyasha!" she said, trying to walk in step beside me, "Please, just listen."

I stopped, turned at her, and cut her off when her mouth opened to speak, "No. I don't need any sympathy from you or from anyone else. I don't fucking need anyone at all. Why can't you just leave me alone?" And with that, I turned and walked even faster, thankful and yet longing for the sound of footsteps hurrying after me.

When I walked to the end of the park, I glanced back and saw her retreating figure. I wanted to go back to her, tell her sorry. She didn't deserve that.

But my feet moved the other way, regret instantly filling my body, and I walked back to my house, knowing that I made the wrong decision. I acted on my instincts, and it was wrong.

There was a hole in my heart. Just like I had predicted earlier.

Why didn't I listen to that side of myself?

* * *

So when I looked back at the last chapter, I realized how happy it was. Well this time, I needed to show you guys the other side of Inuyasha's life. I know this chapter is pretty short, but next one is going to be like twenty pages long on Word.

And sorry I didn't get this up last weekend. I was at the Indy 500, and I was writing this story in between my homework, softball, and basketball stuff the past couple of days.

Next chapter is for sure gonna be up by the end of this weekend.

And I have a new beta! And I thank her for revising this in such a short time. :) Thanks **O-Mega Lead**!

Thanks to my reviewers so far:** XxbeautifullyshatteredXx, O-Mega Lead, xXKamika SakakiXx, MyInuyashaObsession, tipsyremix, angelgt1231**, KP, **Kaneko-Patrick.**

more reviews???

**eVeRy HeArT**


	5. Chapter 5

Silent Darkness  
Chapter 5

* * *

I've faced this feeling many times in my life. Actually, I think I feel it every day. It's always there, haunting me like some stalker ghost.

But right now, it seems like it's at its worst.

This feeling of regret over my actions is causing me to lose all focus in everything else that should be most important to me. Sure, plenty of times before I've regretted being an ass to someone. But this time it's just…overwhelming.

And what's worse is knowing I can't do anything about it.

* * *

If I thought I would forget Kagome after I broke off from her, I was wrong.

She has been on my mind for the past four days. Always coming and never leaving. It's like the sound of her voice and the image of her perfect face is trapped in my head and no matter what I do, I can't get rid of it.

It's like a curse, really. I can't concentrate on anything except her. In school, when she sits far away from me, I can't help but stare at the back of her head, knowing that I made a mistake. A rather large one, in fact.

I guess I just never thought about how much it would affect me if I _did_ let her go.

Every single time we meet eye contact in the halls or in the classroom; she always glares and then looks away. And then I'm left there, looking and feeling like a dumbass.

For the past week, Miroku and Sango kept coming up to me and asking what I did to her. And I replied the same way every single time by not responding at all. No reason for them to know if Kagome hasn't already told them herself.

But this is getting ridiculous. I should not be wasting time on one person. Although she was nice to me, we could never have been friends. I mean, she did say that she felt bad for me, and that's why she was being friendly.

But still, maybe I should've let her stay friends with me, even though we would be in that relationship for the wrong reason. Anything's better than sitting here each and every day, staring at her head, beating myself up over what I said.

The bell rang, and a rush of joy coursed through my body, happy that I can go home and not see Kagome for the rest of the weekend.

Taking all of my books, I entered the noisy hallway, listening in on people's conversations on their plans for the weekend as I found my way to my locker. Shoving past the people I made it and started turning the lock when I saw someone lean against the locker next to mine.

Stopping midway through the combination, I looked up to find Miroku standing with his arms crossed, and for once a serious look on his face. Surprise was evident in my features, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was here. I haven't really said anything to him since Monday. Unless he wants to ask me again about Kagome, then that's another thing.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I want to know if you're going to Kariko's party tonight," he said.

"Why would I have a reason to go?" I said, turning away from him and opening my locker, all the while wondering why on earth he cared.

"Well, for one thing," he said as I stuffed my books in my backpack, "Kagome's going to be there."

I stopped midway, and slowly turned to look at him. After regaining my composure, I went back to zipping up the bag.

"Keh," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Look, I care about Kagome, and I know you guys were really good friends," he said, "And I don't need to know what happened between you two, but Kagome has been upset ever since."

Pulling my backpack strap over my shoulder, I shut my locker and said, "Yeah, right," and then I started walking off.

But just like Kagome, Miroku stuck with me. "You don't have to agree with me, but I'm just telling you. I don't want to see Kagome hurt."

I can relate.

"Just go to the party and talk to her," Miroku said, "I know she'll be more than willing to let you explain yourself-"

Walking faster, I said, "Explain myself?! No, not me, that wench needs to apologize to me-"

"Okay, seriously, what exactly happened?" Miroku asked as we walked out of the school together.

"I don't need to say anything," I muttered as I started walking away form the school parking lot and onto the sidewalk.

"Do you not drive?" Miroku asked.

"No," I said as I continued walking away.

"Do you want a lift home?" Miroku asked.

I stopped and thought about it for a moment. I didn't think about the offered car ride, however. Instead, I tried to find the reason why Miroku was being nice to me. Well, he did say it was for Kagome…but he's offering a ride.

"No."

"You sure? Come on, I know you don't want to walk all the way home," he said.

Stopping and glancing back at him, he had a smile on his face that made me want to suspect something was going on.

"I don't need one," I said.

"Aw, come on, Inuyasha. Enjoy a little joy ride."

I stopped, and again thought about it. No doubt he was going to talk about Kagome. But I really don't feel like walking home today….

"Fine," I said as I turned around and walking to his smug face, "But we're not talking about Kagome, got it?" He only nodded, the same grinning face looking at me.

Walking through the bustling parking lot, with the kids driving out of school grounds, we weaved are way to his red truck. I jumped on in, setting my backpack at my feet, and waited patiently for Miroku to start driving.

After I told him the directions to my house and he started backing out of the parking space, I leaned back in the seat, staring out the window, grateful I don't have to hurt my feet again by walking the twenty to thirty minutes home.

But I was waiting for it…

"So, about Kagome," Miroku started as he entered the main road.

"I'm not talking about it," I said, "I told you that."

"Well, if you just listen to me-"

"No," I said, beginning to lose my patience. Why did I come along after all?

He stopped at a red light, and turned his head to look at me. "Look, Inuyasha, I'm just looking out for her-"

"Wonderful."

"-And I want her to be happy," he continued, "But she's overdoing whatever happened between you guys. She's so sad about it-"

I snorted, "Right…."

Miroku sighed and turned back to the green light. "Please, all I'm asking is go to the party tonight and talk to her about it-"

"I said I'm not going damn it!"

"I'll pick you up," Miroku offered, giving me a small grin, "Come on, you can't resist that."

"Keh, yes I can, ass."

"You're our friend, Inuyasha, and we don't want to see-"

"Whose friend," I said, "Yours? Hell no." What does this guy think he's saying?

"Come on, you know you're mine, Sango, and Kagome's friend-"

"To Hell I am," I retorted, "Whoever said I was?"

"Well," Miroku said as he stopped at another light, "We do. Is that enough for you?"

I was silent. I looked away, knowing he was trying to make sense of me by staring. But it was very uncomfortable.

"Inuyasha," Miroku started again as I felt the car start to slowly accelerate, "I don't know what's the matter with you, but whenever someone tries to be nice…well, it's like you don't want anyone to be nice to you, and none of us get it."

"Keh," I said.

"You yelled at me for nothing before, but I guess that's okay though, since I was an annoying kid back then. But now, we're offering you a friendship that wont stop-"

"Damn, Miroku, you sound like a cheesy novelist."

He shrugged. "Whatever. I'm only telling the truth."

Growling and looking out the window, I muttered, "The only reason you guys are saying this is because you just fucking feel bad for me-"

"No we don't-"

"Ah, shut up. I'm not going to let you guys be my friends if you don't have a good enough reason-"

"Inuyasha, you're totally blowing this out of proportion. We're friends with you because we like you-"

"Whatever you say," I said.

Suddenly, he slammed his hands on the steering wheel, causing me to whirl my head to the side, and to find myself staring at the side of his head. Although he was looking at the road, the angry look was apparent on his face.

"Damn it, Inuyasha!" he exclaimed, "You're so stubborn! I'm trying to help you out here, not only for Kagome's sake, but for yours and mine and Sango's! You need to learn how to listen to someone and try to actually understand what we're saying, because for some reason you like to jump to unnecessary conclusions."

"Keh."

Miroku then sighed. "Look, just trust me on this. I'll drive you to the party, we'll find Kagome, you can talk to her if you like, but if you want to go, then I'll take you home."

"Why the hell are you doing this?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Doing what?"

"Being all nice and shit." I replied, "You barely know me but-"

"It's what friends do, Inuyasha. We help each other out."

I didn't know what to say to that.

* * *

Glancing at the clock, I got up from my bed, put on my necklace and instantly felt my body change. After the transition was complete, I walked down the darkened stairs and found my way to the front door, waiting there for a sign of Miroku's car.

Yes, I agreed. I don't know how, but something was telling me to just go and try it out. It's not like I have anything else to do anyways. Might as well see what happens, and if I feel weird about it, I'll just come back home.

Suddenly I saw the headlights of a car come down the street and then turn onto my driveway. Walking out the door and locking it behind me, I walked out and hopped in the passenger side of Miroku's truck.

"Hey man," he said as he put the car in reverse and drove away from my house.

I nodded in acknowledgment and just leaned back in the seat and stared out the window.

"So, you know what you're going to say to her?" Miroku asked.

I was going to say a rude comment back, but stopped myself. Why should I? Besides, I think Miroku and I are starting to develop a good friendship, and for once, I don't want to ruin it. It's strange. Why don't I care with him?

With Kagome it's like I'm always fretting about what to say or what not say. What to do or what not to do. It's like a maddening rollercoaster that I couldn't get off of. But I think since Miroku made his point earlier, that I'm not as afraid as I was with Kagome.

With Kagome, I'm scared what to say because at any moment she can hate me (like she does now). But with Miroku, I can say anything I want. I still don't know why. Maybe I don't care what Miroku thinks of me? No. Or maybe I already know he's going to stick with me no matter what? No, that can't be it either because you can never know for sure on that particular subject.

And then a thought hit me. It left as suddenly as it had come, and I was left blushing at my own thoughts. I know it's wrong, but it could be right. I don't think I have feelings for Kagome. Right now we're not even talking. What makes me think that I could even _like_ her like that?

"So?" Miroku inquired.

"Oh, I don't know yet," I said, trying to settle down my growing thoughts.

"Well, think about it soon, we're just about there. Sango and I will make sure you guys get together somehow."

Nodding slightly, I continued remobilizing my thoughts until we stopped in front of a house already with tons of cars parked along the street. As Miroku and I walked out of the car, we heard the loud beat of music pounding from inside.

"I'm not talking to her right away," I said as we walked up to the front door.

Miroku nodded. "Okay, just let me know when. Right now we can just party." With a grin, he opened the door, and I had to adjust my eyes and ears to the loud music and bright lights.

Walking in, I already could smell the thick stench of alcohol. My eyes scanned the room and I was actually thankful to not find Kagome here.

"Oh, I see Sango over there," Miroku said, and began walking to a side of the room, where she was standing alone. I followed him, also noticing the amount of people I knew making out on the furniture or dancing in the hallways and in the main center of the room.

"Hello my dear Sango," Miroku said as he took her hand and brought it to his lips, "You looked absolutely amazing tonight."

I didn't miss the blush she had when he kissed her hand. But then I also did not miss the pissed off look on his face when she felt his hand groping her rear. With a scream of the word 'pervert,' she slapped him hard on the face making even me wince.

As he stumbled to the side moaning about his cheek, she turned back to me with a pleasant smile, "I didn't think you'd come," she said.

I shrugged. "Eh, Miroku convinced me to come."

At the sound of his name, Miroku stood up straight, his hand still over his injured cheek and smiled at Sango.

"So where's Kagome?" I asked, immediately flushing at what I said. I don't want them to think I have feelings about her. Hell no. Because I don't, right?

She pointed over her shoulder into the next room. "She's in there talking to Koga and Kariko."

Glancing over her shoulder, I did see them. All at once I was nervous the moment I looked at Kagome, knowing that sooner or later I'll have to talk to her. But then I was also pissed, watching as Koga continued to smile and touch Kagome. Damn, I just want to go in there and punch the hell-

"Why don't you go in there and talk with her, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah, I'm sick of listening to that Koga guy flirt with her. Kind of making me sick, y'know?" said Sango

I felt a small growl in my throat, and was worried for a split second if Miroku and Sango heard. But they didn't.

"Well, I guess we shouldn't go in there until she's finished talking with them," Sango said.

I nodded.

"Let's just hang out for right now," Sango said, and she and Miroku began talking. However, my mind was out of their conversation but focused on Koga's hand that was inching its way casually down Kagome's back. And what angered me more than ever was how Kagome was _letting_ him touch her. Disgusting.

"Inuyasha?" Snapping my head out of my thoughts, Miroku and Sango were standing there, both with terrifyingly smug grins.

"What?"

Miroku's eyes glanced back and forth between me and where my eyes were previously. "Ah, I get it now."

"Get what?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, I think I do too," Sango followed.

"What?" I yelled.

Miroku pushed me in the arm playfully and said, "You have a thing for Kagome, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question, and I was left without anything to say.

"We know you do, Inuyasha," Sango said, smirking at my stuttering face. "Don't worry; we'll keep it a secret."

"What the hell are you guys on? I don't…_like_ Kagome like that!"

Sango giggled. "Oh, so you don't _like_ her…"

"Which means you love her!" Miroku added.

"Keh, I'm going to go get a drink," I said, and marched out of the room and into the kitchen to grab a can of pop. God this was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was around two hours later, and I still haven't talked to Kagome. Why?

Because I'm so god damn scared.

What would you say to someone who thinks you hate them, and you know that they hate you? How do you apologize when you've never really apologized before?

So here I am, spending my time with Miroku and Sango. I have to say, during the past two hours, I've really gotten close to them. And no matter how many times I keep telling myself I need to stop this, I don't want to. The feeling of want is stronger than the need. I actually want them as friends.

I think I've made one of the biggest realizations of my life right here at this insane party that was starting to get out of control.

Even though my mind is still split in two, I think one side is stronger than the other. That is that even though it's going to be a risk, I know that it's one I want to take. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome all have been extremely nice to me even when I acted like a complete asshole to them. And like Miroku said earlier, we're all friends.

Of course I'm not going to let them into my life, nor will I let anyone else become my friends. I think they are more than enough.

I do feel a slight feeling of regret. I think I'm regretful towards my new decision, but at the same time I'm happy. It's all a puddle of confusion that keeps growing in size, but nothing is going to change my decision right now. Maybe I'm just fazed under the amount of alcohol Miroku gave me. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that right now, at the very instant, I am changing my life.

I never would've even dreamed of this happening a couple of years ago. Years back, I lost hope. But this year, it has only been a couple of weeks, and suddenly everything is changing before my eyes.

And I have to wonder how much more will change. It's both exciting yet frightening at the same time, and it's sending my mind in a whirlwind of uncertainty.

What Miroku and Sango had told me earlier had caused all this sudden change of thought. The subject came up of how Miroku had to persuade me to come here and talk to Kagome. And it went along until Miroku mentioned how it seemed like I was afraid to have any type of friends…

"I've noticed it for a long time," Miroku said, "I think a lot of us have."

"But you have to realize, Inuyasha," Sango then said, "Having a life without friends only makes things worse. We don't get what's going on in your life that makes you think that being alone if going to make it better. At least with us, we can be there for you, and you don't have to worry about anything."

And after all this confusion and insanity that was occurring inside my head, I kept remembering how I lost my mother, and how everything fell apart. And as my mind started to head in the other direction, it stopped, as I realized that even though I might lose them, and everything could get fucked up again, it can't get worse than it has been ever since my life took a turn for the worse.

I think I'm going to take this chance, and if I end up back where I started, then at least I can tell myself I tried.

"Well, Kagome's not over there anymore," Miroku said.

We all turned and looked over to find that she, nor Koga were there. However Kariko was standing there talking loudly among a group of cheerleaders.

"I hope she didn't leave," Sango said.

"Me too," I added, "Well, I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom. Do you guys know where it is?"

"Down that hallway," Sango pointed.

Putting my drink down on the nearest table, I began walking away to hear Miroku say, "Have fun!" I grinned

Walking down the hallway that Sango had pointed out to me, I found the room she showed me and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Grunting to myself, I moved towards the stairs, hoping there was another bathroom up there. As soon as I was at the top, the firs thing I noticed was the fact that nobody was up here.

And then the next thing I noticed was the muffled screams and cries coming from a nearby room. Feeling my heart drop, I listened for a second, trying to figure out what it was. It was coming form the door on the right, and it definitely didn't sound like people were having sex or anything. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Dashing to the door, I slammed it open, letting it hit the hard wall and rebound back a couple of inches. The room was dark, but my eyes quickly followed the noise, and found someone hovering over someone else.

They were both looking at me, and even though it was dark, from the light the hallway gave me, I saw that it was Koga who was all over Kagome in the corner of the room.

Growling in rage, I walked over, grabbed Koga by the shirt and threw him away from Kagome. He hit the corner of the dresser and grunted in pain at the contact. I looked back over a Kagome to find her crying. And then when I searched her body to see if she was hurt, I noticed her clothes were ripped.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

She nodded slightly.

"You fucking asshole!" I yelled as I walked over to Koga who was now walking towards me. I punched him in the face. And as his head whipped to the side, I could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from his mouth. He turned back around, muttering curse words as he tried to throw one back at me. But he was too slow. I grabbed his wrist, and yanked it around so that he was now yelping in pain.

"Inuyasha," I snapped my head around at the sound of Kagome's weak and hurt voice. "Please don't, he's just drunk-"

"Look what he fucking did to you!" I yelled and twisted his arm even more.

"I know…let's just leave him."

"No, he deserves this," and I punched him again, causing him to fall to the floor and groaned.

I felt her hand on my arm, and looked down to find her teary eyes staring up at me. "Please, let's just go." The way she was looking at me…I couldn't say no.

Taking one last glance at the pile of shit on the floor, I nodded walked out of the room with Kagome, shutting the door behind me.

She was hastily wiping away the stray tears on her red cheeks.

"I'll take you home," I suggested. She looked up and nodded, and smiled at me. How she could just smile after what just happened amazes me.

She took my arm, and we began walking down the stairs. "Let's go tell Sango and Miroku where we're going, and then we'll leave." She nodded again.

When Miroku and Sango caught sight of Kagome, they began to ask questions as they fretted over her. Kagome said nothing, only looked at me for help.

"Look, I'm going to take her home. You guys stay here."

"But what happened?" Sango asked.

"We'll tell you later," I said as Kagome and I walked out the door of the noisy house and into the driveway.

"Do you have your car?" I asked.

Kagome shook her head. "No, Sango drove me," she said in a weak voice, "But my house isn't that far from here."

I nodded, and we began walking in the direction of her house on the quiet and dark sidewalk. She was sniffling away, and I couldn't help but feel horrible at how she was treated. Mark my words, that bastard will get what's coming to him sooner or later.

Without even noticing it, I put my arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into my touch, which of course surprised the hell out of me.

And even though no words were spoken, I could tell that our 'fight' was over. It was just obvious in the way of how right now we were enjoying each other's company without saying anything. It all seemed right, as corny as that sounds, all of this is just…right. There's no other word to use for it.

So as of right now, I'm glad I made this decision. I'm glad I'm taking this risk. Maybe my life will go for the better.

* * *

When we finally arrived at Kagome's house, she was half asleep. When she told me no one was home tonight, she dug in her pocket for her keys and opened the door. I was thinking of just leaving her alone right there, but I couldn't help but look at the way her eyes were almost shut and how her body was hunched over.

As we walked inside, I muttered, "I'll take you up to your room." Remembering her house from a week ago, I helped Kagome climb up the stairs and walk into her bedroom.

As we entered her tidy room, I heard her softly say, "Thank you." I nodded in response and led her to her bed. She sat down, and then stretched her arms out while she let out a loud yawn. Kneeling down, I took off her shoes. After that task was done, I stood up again, reached around Kagome to pull the covers back, and watched as she smiled at me, and then lay down. After her head was on the pillows, I reached over again and pulled the blankets back over, tucking her in.

When I was finished, I stared at her again. She was so perfect in so many ways. Everything about her just seems to make my heart-

"Inuyasha?"

Snapping out of my crazed thoughts (which I know are just happening from lack of sleep), I knelt down beside her. "What?" I asked, looking into her now somewhat open eyes.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she bluntly asked.

"Keh, I don't know," I replied, not knowing what to say out of embarrassment.

Damn, why is this girl making me so soft?

"I thought you hated me," she said, and I hated how the sadness in her voice was clearly noticeable.

I sighed. "Look, Kagome about that…" Damn, how do I say this? How do I say sorry?

She just looked at me, and I knew I had to give her _some_ sort of answer.

"I…well…I didn't mean any of it, damn it," I said, but not in an angry sort of voice.

She smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For apologizing."

I stood up then, and started walking to the door. After I opened it, I looked back and said, "I'll lock the door on my way out." And then I shut it behind me as I walked in the hallway with thoughts shooting through my mind as I headed down the stairs and to the front door.

However, I heard the sound of running footsteps, and paused in my actions. Turning around, I saw Kagome coming down the stairs in a light jog. Without saying anything, she threw herself at me and tightly wrapped her arms around my torso.

I didn't know what to do except to just stand there awkwardly with my arms at my sides. I knew I was getting red in the cheeks. No one has ever touched me like this. Ever.

She must have had too much to drink tonight.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she suddenly said.

And then without thinking about what I was doing, I enfolded my arms around her small frame. All the while my heart was pounding and my emotions were spinning out of control. But it didn't matter. Even though everything seemed hectic on the inside, all in all, we were just here enjoying each other's company. It didn't matter about how some part of me was trying to break free and run away from all of this.

It's too late for that though. Now I know that I can't turn back. I think this is the turning point where I've made my decision, and I go in the other direction. So now I have to ride this thing out for the better or the worst.

And I can't figure out if I'm excited or scared.

* * *

So do you guys hate me now?

I really tried to get this up sooner. Two weeks ago I was studying for exams and end of the year tests, adn then through this whole week I spent 7-8 hours each day doing basketball stuff. I am really tried.

So I made this really long for you guys (and added some fluff) and hopefully you guys will love it.

Hopefully now since school's done, I can get this REALLY going around basketball. Basketball is like school during the summer. There's just that much of it.

So...yeah... And I have to thank my awesome beta O-Mega Lead for putting up with my procrastinating and taking such a short time in 'beta-ing' this chapter. :)

So review!!! I don't seem to be getting a lot of them... : (

Every Heart


	6. Chapter 6

**Silent Darkness**  
Chapter 6

* * *

Today was going pretty smooth so far. Actually, the past couple of days have. To me this is weird. It's like I'm walking on forbidden grounds, but at the same time, I really don't give a shit. 

Not even my own drunken father during Saturday and Sunday night could have altered my sudden mood change.

It seems like for the first time in a long time, things are finally starting to go right.

On Saturday afternoon, Kagome had called my house and asked me to come over. When I walked over, the damn wench did everything; she made me lunch, we hung out and drove around the city, and then when it was finally night time, she drove me to WacDonalds and bought me dinner.

While we sat there eating, I asked her, "Why are you doing all this for me, wench?"

And all she did was smile and say, "For what you did for me last night."

That was the only thing she mentioned about the night before. I couldn't blame her. Who'd want to talk about that disgusting asshole anyways?

But the whole day I was hoping he'd come by so I could just beat the shit out of him and make him sorry for what he did.

Didn't know I'd get the chance to right now.

For a Monday, everything has been alright for a change. And now here I am, sitting here with my friends and talking with them. And while I'm doing that, I'm pushing all those nagging thoughts about how wrong this is to the back of my mind and leave them there forgotten.

And then with pure delight, I finally saw the bastard Koga. He was making his way over here, and I glanced over at Kagome to see that she was looking the same way with glistening eyes. I couldn't tell if she was scared of worried, but whatever the reason, I found myself reaching over and taking her hand in mine, blushing as she smiled at me.

As he rounded the table, Sango and Miroku stopped talking and stared at Koga also, now knowing the full story behind what happened at Kariko's party.

He immediately put a hand on Kagome's shoulder and said, "Look, we need to-"

He didn't have a chance to finish as I stood up and pushed him back away from Kagome. "Back off, asshole," I growled out.

Koga said nothing in response, but instead started moving around me to get to Kagome. I clenched both fists tightly and was about to raise one when I felt a hand on it. Without looking, I knew it was Kagome. I heard her say, "Just let him talk, Inuyasha."

I turned on her and gave her an appalled look. "Are you serious, wench?!"

She nodded without looking my way. I saw Koga give us a small smirk, and I kept resisting the urge to take that puny wimp and stuff him in the nearest garbage can.

"Look, Kagome, I was drunk, and I never meant to do anything to hurt you." And then without warning he slightly pushed me aside. Kneeling down he took Kagome's hands in both of his and said, "I am so sorry, Kagome. Forgive me?"

I was relieved to see her not answer. Good, she doesn't need to. I'm sure she won't believe this bullshit-

"Okay, I forgive you," Kagome said.

I looked at her with my mouth open.

Koga lifted one hand up and kissed it, smiled and then walked away.

I sat down again. "What the hell was that?" I almost yelled.

She looked at me with an innocent look. "Well, he _was _drunk, and he just said he didn't mean any of it-"

"You believed that shit?!"

She started to look angry then. "Look, it was my decision, and not yours. I don't know why you're getting so worked up over this." She then crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away from me with her chin tilted upwards.

Even though Kagome meant a lot to me, she is also one of the main people who trigger my anger. And I couldn't understand why the damn wench can forgive so easily of someone who had pretty much _violated_ her.

"Look, wench, do you not remember what that fuck-ass did to you?!"

She then turned back to me and yelled, "Of course I remember, but he gave a good reason-"

"You call that a good reason? Sounds like a fucking lie to me-"

"Well," Miroku piped up, causing both the frustrated teens to glare his way, "As much as I enjoy listening to you guys ramble on like this, I think the bell is going to ring in a couple of seconds, and we don't want any teachers walking by hear Inuyasha swear like that."

As if on cue, the bell rang, and Kagome quickly got up and walked away, leaving me there to stare at her now empty seat. Mumbling to myself, I ignored Sango and Miroku and walked out of the cafeteria.

* * *

Heading into my English class, I started walking to my seat in the last row, which was unluckily next to Kagome's. She was already sitting there, her eyes narrowing as soon as she saw me enter the room. Giving her a look back, I sat down beside her, crossed my arms over my chest, and then leaned back, refusing to look at her. 

We were in that awkward silence even after the bell rang and our teacher started going off on how we could read one of our poem's today for extra credit. I rolled my eyes, knowing that today was another day just to sit back and relax and listen to the pathetic excuses that people call their poems. This teacher always seems to just like to give off measly extra credit. And then of course, everyone is willing to get that extra couple of points so they all read their shitty poems.

"Now, I expected you guys to have made a rhyming poem," Mr. Humperdink added, "Who would like to go first?" Several hands shot in the air, and I leaned the chair back on its two legs, my eyes falling closed as everyone started read off their poems one by one.

As the time went on, and person after person read their crappy work, my mind drifted between reality and a short slumber that mostly consisted of Kagome. Every now and then I'd wake up with a jolt, looking around at my surroundings realizing I was still in Mr. Humperdink's classroom, and that there was still a heck of a lot more time left until class ended. Then I'd fall back asleep, Kagome's face wavering before my closed eyes.

I was still pissed that she had given into that asshole's whimpering and accepted his damn apology. I knew Koga was bad the moment we met. The way he had looked at Kagome at the library…

Suddenly, a small growl escaped my throat, and I opened my eyes wide to make sure no one heard it. Glancing around the room, I saw no one had changed from their slouched positions. Even Kagome didn't seem to have heard it.

Leaning more back into my chair and putting one foot on the desk, I couldn't help but stare at the back side of Kagome's head. Her head was in the palm of her hand, and from where I sat it looked as if she had a sleepy expression on her face.

As my mind tuned out the kid speaking at the front of the class, I couldn't help but think of how Kagome seemed to give so much trust to anyone, and give in to them even after they had done something wrong. She had even witnessed what trust had done to her, and yet she still had forgiven that sorry piece of ass.

Probably feeling my eyes on her, Kagome glanced to the side. When she found me looking, she turned her head completely, and smiled at me.

After realizing I was blushing, I quickly looked to the side, all the while that smile still fresh in my mind.

So now I'm guessing she's not mad at me anymore?

Taking one quick look at her again, her head was turned back around to its original position.

"Alright," Mr. Humperdink's voice arose me out of my thoughts, "Who wants to go next?"

Again, several hands rose, but fewer than before. I watched as the teacher scanned the classroom, and then point towards the side I was sitting on, saying, "Okay, you can go Hojo."

Hojo nodded, and stood up, and I watched him as he pushed in his chair, and looked at me for one brief second before turning and walking to the front of the classroom.

I felt uncomfortable as soon as I saw him stand up there, white sheet of paper between his two hands, and his eyes on me. I only glared back at him.

After several seconds of silence, Hr. Humperdink urged Hojo to read his poem. After finally taking his eyes off of me, he took a breath and then fixed his eyes on the paper.

"You have taken me by surprise," he read, "I sit in front of you. And I can't help but dream of your eyes."

My mouth dropped open, and I noticed as people started looking back at me and smile.

Oh shit.

"So magical are they. And I am always thinking about you. Just like a predator and it's prey."

I began to get nervous with everyone's eyes now turning to look back at me, while I was secretly hating this Hojo even more.

"Your hair is as black as the night. And your body is just as great. It's like you're an angel shining with light. The end."

He smiled at the class, and I sat there dumbstruck, listening to people's giggles and their constant stares as they turned in their seats to look at me. I kept turning my head around, hoping that I wasn't the only person behind Hojo, but all I could see was a wall that stared right back at me and confirming my horrid thoughts.

I knew my mouth had opened, but I had no will to close it. I heard several people start talking and laughing, and I couldn't help but hear Kariko's voice in my mind saying over and over of how Hojo is gay.

As Hojo walked back to his seat, I scooted as far away from him as I could, and ended up pushing into Kagome's side. Looking over at her, she only giggled at the look on my face, and I glowered back at her.

I just wanted this to end, right now.

And thankfully, the bell rang. Gathering my stuff, I almost but ran out of the room and into the hallway, pushing past the sniggers and comments about Hojo's new attraction.

* * *

Thankful the day was now over; I was already at my locker and quickly turning the dial. Opening it, I hastily pushed my books into my backpack, not wanting any more to do with this school. Slamming it close, I turned around to leave, but was stopped when I found Miroku, Sango, and even Kagome standing there, all with the same bemused expressions on their faces. 

Instantly, a feeling of dread came over me.

"What the hell do you guys want?" I asked as I looked for a way around their half circle surrounding me.

Sango started to giggle behind her hand. Glaring at her, I also heard Kagome mimic her, and I really just wanted to run right then.

"So Inuyasha," Miroku said with a smirk, "I heard about your new boyfriend."

Growling in my throat, I pushed past him, and quickly walked away. Stumbling through the crowd, I was haunted, feeling like everyone's eyes were on me. By the end of my last hour, it was official that the news of Hojo's new 'boyfriend' made it's way around the school. And today was a day of hell, because every single fucking class I was at was filled with people asking me about how we were doing in our relationship, if I'm going to ask him to homecoming in the next week or so, or if we were going to hang out later.

"Hey, wait up, Inuyasha!" I looked to my side to find Kagome there, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"Yeah, we're only joking," Sango added to my other side, with Miroku in step beside her.

"Keh," I said, walking a little faster.

"Hold up, we're not trying to be mean," Kagome said.

"Yeah, sure," I muttered.

"Everyone's only joking around with you," Miroku remarked as we walked out of the school and into the cool autumn air.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha, everyone knows the true story about what happened," Sango said, "We all know you're not gay."

"You better," I growled out.

"It's just funny that Hojo likes you," Kagome said.

"Keh."

"Remember when he liked _you_, Kagome?" Sango asked with a smile.

Kagome laughed, "Yeah, and remember how he always gave me tons of pointless gifts?"

Sango and Miroku both laughed.

Entering the parking lot, I immediately changed my direction and started walking towards the sidewalk so that I can finally go home and away from this mess.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kagome called out at my retreating figure.

"Home," I said and continued walking.

"Let me give you a ride home," Miroku offered, suddenly appearing beside me.

"Why? So you can fucking make fun of me?"

He looked hurt at first, but then smiled. "No, of course not. I can give you a ride every day. No big deal, really."

"Keh,"

"Come on, it's cold, and I know you don't want to walk all that way."

Sighing, I stopped nodded in defeat.

Looking back at Kagome and Sango, I found them walking our way. "Do you have a ride, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as they stopped in front of us.

I nodded and eyed Miroku as he inched his way towards Sango.

"Well, we'll be seeing you ladies tomorrow," he said casually.

"Miroku!" Sango suddenly yelled, and then afterwards came the sound of flesh on flesh as her hand came flying across my line of vision and smacked Miroku in the cheek.

He staggered back a little bit and rubbed his cheek. He groaned and said, "It was worth a try…."

"You idiot!" Sango yelled.

Kagome grabbed Sango's hand, and started walking away, pulling her along. "Bye guys!" she yelled out, waving, while Sango continued glaring at Miroku who only sheepishly waved back.

"Damn, Miroku, why do you always have to do that?" I asked him as we started making our way towards his truck.

He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "Just something I've always done," and then his mind went into a daze.

I rolled my eyes as I opened the door and sat down inside his car as he started it, and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

My mind instantly went blank, but my thoughts were running everywhere. I still had another four days left until the week ended, and I know that no one will stop in their pursuit of torturing me with Hojo's fucked up poem. God, why is it me? Why is he gay? I don't need this shit. This is probably my punishment for choosing friends, right?

I distantly heard Miroku say something in the background, but did not hear specifically of what he said.

Snapping out of my daze of looking out the window, I asked, "What?"

"I asked if you were going to ask anybody, like presumably Kagome, to homecoming."

"Keh, I'm not going. And I wouldn't ask Kagome if I was anyways. She'd probably just go with that ass."

"You mean Koga?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm," Miroku said thoughtfully as he tapped a finger to his chin, "Sounds like you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" I yelled out, suddenly very angry.

Miroku laughed, "Okay, okay, you don't have to get so mad about it."

Mumbling to myself, I crossed my arms and continued staring out the window.

"I think I'm going to ask Sango," Miroku said out of thin air.

"Keh, like she'd say yes," I said with a smirk.

"Well if she doesn't, then I don't know who I'm going to ask."

"Just don't go. I don't see the point in going to that damn thing anyways," I said.

"Have you ever gone to homecoming at all, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"No."

"Well then," he said with a grin, "I'll just have to make sure you go, and with Kagome."

"God, what the hell is your problem with me going with Kagome!"

"So you're going to ask her?"

"Hell no!"

"So when Hojo asks you to go with him, you'll say yes?" Miroku said, smirking.

Letting out a frustrated growl, I yelled, "Fuck no!"

Miroku laughed. "You are so easy to irritate, Inuyasha."

"And you're as annoying as hell."

Miroku pulled into my driveway, and as I unbuckled the seat, he said, "Well, just think about it. I mean, you don't want to see Koga go with her right?" Hearing a growl in response, Miroku nodded. "There you go. And it's next Saturday, so you better hurry up and do something."

"Keh," I said and opened the door. Walking out, I slammed it shut behind me.

As I walked to my front porch, I found a package on the front step. Seeing a card on top, I picked it up and opened it.

"For you, Inuyasha. Love, Hojo."

Feeling my eyes get wide and round, I threw the card to the side and kicked the package over there with it.

Suddenly I heard laughing behind me, and I quickly turned around to Miroku's smiling face leaning over the open window. "I'm guessing that was from Hojo," he said pointing at the dented box.

"Shut up, Miroku!" I yelled.

Miroku only kept laughing as he backed out of the drive way and drove off.

* * *

Ugh, i know, I know, it's been a while yet again. No excuses this time (except maybe for writer's block) but I will say that I guess I'm not that motivated...I dunno, not really seeing many people enjoying this as much as I have. I'll keep writing though, no worries there. Maybe if i had more reviews the chapters would be coming faster??? (yes, that's a bribe. : )

Anyways, I'm about halfway through the next chapter. Expect it in the next day or so. It should be pretty long.

And I know, no beginning thing. Right now, I can't think of anything to put. I might add something in later though...

And again, I thank my wonderful beta, O-Mega Lead for taking the time in going over this. : )

**Every Heart**


	7. Chapter 7

**Silent Darkness  
**Chapter 7

* * *

I've never really thought about how much one friend can change your life. 

Sometimes when I look in the mirror at my human face, I can't help but think about how different I am. Maybe it's just that I'm growing up, but I doubt that. The only thing that's different now than way back when is that I have friends who all care about me.

* * *

About a week has passed since Monday. It was now Saturday, the day of homecoming. 

Whenever I had come so close to asking Kagome to homecoming, at the last second I backed out by either walking away flushed in the face or standing there a complete idiot with my mouth open but nothing coming out.

I did this for days, with Miroku always urging me on, telling me she wasn't going to reject me. I doubted that. But even Sango came up to me at one point and told me that I should ask Kagome to the dance. Obviously, Miroku had told her of my intentions, and embarrassed that now she knew, I said nothing and ignored her.

However, all came to a halt when on Monday, Miroku told me Koga had asked Kagome to the dance and she said yes. What happened after that, I really don't know. All I do know is that I got really angry and started yelling at Kagome for going with the guy who going to rape her a week ago. At one point we were screaming in the middle of our English class. Mr. Humperdink got pissed and sent us out to sit in the hall, where we still argued but in lower tones. I remember Sango had told me that Kagome did it because she only wanted to be nice. Bullshit, the wench probably had_ feelings_ for this guy.

Something she'd never had for me.

At least Miroku got lucky. He told me he put roses in Sango's locker last Wednesday, and asked in a note he left her. She said yes, and all through English class that day I kept listening to Kagome who was talking about how cute it was, or how that was such a wonderful idea…and so on. What a way to make me feel like even more of a dick.

And even though I don't have a date, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango are all making me go. But since I have no money, I convinced them to not make me go to dinner, but just pick me up in their limo, and right from there we'll go to the dance.

I did get asked though, but not by anyone who I would even want to be near. Hojo kept doing it to me, every day, asking me outright in front of everyone in English. His response was me yelling and swearing at him, and in the end, I was sent to the main office by Mr. Humperdink, who by then had enough of my 'disruptions' in class.

And the annoying prick idiot kept giving me gifts too. I never opened them and I never read the cards. I just picked them up, and dumped them in the garbage can at the end of our driveway. Who knows what could be in those things. I always shuddered at that thought.

He wouldn't leave me alone. I remember punching him a lot, but he only took that as a flirtatious move or something. And everyone knew about everything, it seemed. I couldn't walk down the hallway without hearing someone talk about 'us,' 'the gay couple.'

Dammit! I'm not fucking gay!

And now here I am, walking in the park with nothing better to do. It was pretty cold out, and I kept wrapping my arms closer to myself, having forgotten any type of jacket. It was early in the afternoon, and I felt like I needed something to do.

Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I walked along, enjoying the small breeze. Looking around I watched as colored leaves fell onto the cool ground and sometimes rustling under my feet as I walked along the winding path.

The only people in the park today were kids playing along, screaming and laughing, while their parents sat on the park benches, either talking with other parents or reading a book. Envying the kids, I just walked along, thinking about what could happen tonight.

"You still got to dance with her, remember," Miroku had said yesterday when he was dropping me off from school.

"Why? She's going to be dancing with the ass."

"Because you can't let him have her the whole time, then you lose."

Suddenly something caught my eye, and as an almost empty swing set was coming up on my left, I saw no other than Kagome sitting there. She was looking down, her hands loosely holding onto the chains as she slowly swung back and forth. She was faintly smiling as she played in the sand without any shoes on.

Walking towards her, and not knowing what to say, I sat on the swing next to her. "Hey Kagome," I said.

She looked up, startled, and when she realized it was me, she smiled. "Oh hey, Inuyasha."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready and stuff for tonight?" I asked.

"Why do you ask that?"

I shrugged. "Because Miroku said girls take a hell a lot of time to get ready."

Kagome giggled, and I smiled. "Well, that's true," she said, "But I just wanted to come here and think for a little bit."

"About what?"

She looked back down and continued weaving her toes through the sand. She said nothing for a little bit, and I started to worry that I was asking too much. Maybe it wasn't my business. Damn, I know how to ruin every-

"I guess I'm kind of worried," she said, rousing me out of my thoughts.

Relief washed over me at once, glad that she wasn't mad at me. But then I couldn't help but wonder what she was worried about or what caused her to suddenly have a sad look in her eyes.

Just as I was about to ask her about it, she continued, "I kind of wonder why I said yes to Koga. He did treat me badly that one night…."

"Keh, that stupid jack ass son of a-"

"You were right, Inuyasha," she said, interrupting my raging thoughts, "And now I'm worried if he's going to do something like that again tonight."

"He won't," I said immediately, causing her to raise her head from the ground.

"How do you know that?" she asked, hopeful.

Twisting the swing around so that I was facing her, I replied, "Because every time that bastard even tries to attempt anything like that with you, I'll make sure I beat the shit out of him."

Kagome smiled, and suddenly I felt a warm pressure on my hand. Looking down, I found one of her hands over mine, squeezing it. "I'm glad I have you to protect me," she said softly.

I returned the small pressure, loving the feel of her soft hand in mine, and I looked back up to find a bright smile on her face that was only for me. I knew I was blushing, but at that moment I didn't care.

"Well, I better get going," she said, breaking the moment. Slipping her hand out of mine, she bent over to put her shoes back on. I looked down at my hands, missing the warmth that was once there a second ago.

"I'll see you tonight, okay?" she said. I looked up, and nodded at her smiling face. Waving, she walked off down the road, her footsteps slowly leaving me. When I saw her no more, I got up, and headed in the opposite direction towards my home, her smiling face lingering in my mind.

* * *

Hours later, after I had taken a shower and dressed in the tux me and Miroku went shopping for earlier in the week, I was now sitting on the couch, arm over the armrest and flipping through channels on the television. It was around seven o'clock, and they should be here to pick me up soon. 

Nothing was on, and I was getting frustrated. There was that, and the fact that I wanted them to be here before my dad arrived home. It was Saturday, and there was never a specific time of when he came home on the weekends.

Finally landing on the news channel, I watched as a reporter stood in front of two cars that seemed to have gotten in a car crash somewhere. They were both heavily damaged, and a couple of people stood on the side huddled together.

"Two cars were unexpectedly stopped earlier this evening when a group of men had stood in front of the blue Neon, causing the car to swerve in missing them, and hit another. One person was killed from this, a woman at the age of thirty. However, she was not killed by the crash itself, but by one of the men, who grabbed her and strangled her. When the people tried to stop them, they were beaten by the group of men."

Snorting in disgust, I turned the TV off, and sat there in silence until I heard a car pull forward, and then the sound of the doorbell. Jumping to my feet, I walked towards the door and opened it to be greeted by a glowing Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" She yelled and hugged me. I froze, but she backed away before I had time to actually think about what was going on, and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the black limousine parked on the street.

I took my chance to check her out was when we were walking down the driveway. She looked absolutely beautiful, with her hair curled and cascading down her back, her dress green and hugging her curves. She glanced back at me and smiled. I smiled back, and wrapped my fingers around hers.

As she opened the door, she let go of my hand and went inside. I followed her, instantly greeted by Miroku, Sango, and even Koga. Kagome went to sit next to Koga, who grinned at her (stupid bastard), while I sat across from them next to Miroku and Sango.

I felt motion as the car started driving off towards our school. Conversation was immediately picked up, but I was tuned out, instead focusing on Koga's arm hugging Kagome's shoulder. He was grinning like a fool, and his eyes never left Kagome's body. Clenching my fist at the side so no one would see, I tried relaxing myself.

I swear, if that bastard tries anything at all, I'll kill him.

"You okay, Inuyasha?" Snapping out of my thoughts, I blinked and looked over to a concerned looking Sango.

I nodded, swallowing down all the youkai rage building up inside me. I may be concealed with a human disguise, but that doesn't mean I don't still harbor the same feelings from both human and demon as I did when I'm a hanyou.

"Yeah, lighten up," Koga said, and I turned sharply and glared at him. He only gave me a smug grin in return.

Kagome, however, slapped his arm lightly and said, "Be nice."

He turned his head and gave her a pathetic pout.

And suddenly, causing my attention to veer off from the bastard, there was the sound of a loud smack, and a painful groan following it.

"You better not be doing that all night!" Sango yelled.

Miroku held his hands up in mock defense, "I will try not to, Sango. I tell you, these hands are cursed."

She huffed and crossed her arms, looking to the side. "Why did I say yes to you?" she asked aloud.

"Because you love me?" Miroku suggested with a hopeful grin.

Sango let out a frustrated yell, which plainly told Miroku that he was indeed wrong.

Kagome started laughing, and I looked over to see her shining eyes on me. Feeling nervous, I only looked away.

"Ugh, Miroku, what are you doing now?" Sango asked. Looking over at them, I saw Miroku now sitting very close to her with his arm draped casually over her shoulders.

"Well, Kagome and Koga are doing it, why not us?" he said.

"Because!"

Miroku laughed. "Because why?"

"J-just because, okay?" she retorted.

Miroku only laughed and hugged her closer to his body whenever she tried to get free of his hold.

"Come on, you know that this is turning you on-"

"Miroku, you are so gross," Kagome said, shaking her head at his comment.

Sango nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting second thoughts right now."

"You didn't have them when you said yes, dear Sango," said Miroku, probably trying to lighten her mood up.

Sango blushed, and kept opening her mouth to retort, but always stopped. Finally she settled with turning her head to the side, away from Miroku's grinning one.

"Oh look, we're here," Kagome piped up. I looked through the window to see the limo pulling in front of the school's main entrance, where already kids were walking in, either in groups or arms around their dates.

As the car jerked to a stop, Sango opened the door, and everyone slid out. I noticed though as Kagome got out of the car, Koga took her hand and kissed her, Kagome turning red as a result. And then as I shut the door behind me, I saw Koga give one last evil smirk at me before he turned around and slid his damn arm around her waist.

I'm watching you, bastard.

We walked in and we all headed to the gymnasium. Immediately I was amazed at the amount of decorations and planning set out for something as simple as a dance. The music was blaring, and already there was a large group dancing in the middle of the floor. Next to the pulled in bleachers were tables lined with drinks and chairs next to them.

"Hey, Inuyasha," I heard Kagome say and snapped my head out of its trance. She was standing with her back to Koga, hands on her hips, and with a smile that made me imitate her. "You're going to save a dance for me, right?" she asked.

I froze. I didn't think about actually _dancing_. Sure, I've seen others do it, but I've never done it myself. I forced a nod, hoping to god that Kagome would forget about that. There's no way I'm going to embarrass myself.

Damn, I should've asked Miroku for advice. He'd probably mock me, but if I'd have known that Kagome was going to _dance_ with me…ugh.

She smiled, and then she walked forward and grabbed my hand, pulling me along through the crowd of sweaty bodies. Finally she stopped in front of Miroku and Sango, who were already dancing very close to each other, and Koga who smirked at Kagome when she appeared.

It was then that I realized I was the odd man out. How creepy would it be if I'd _try_ to dance (try being the main word) all by myself? No way. I'm leaving.

Without a second thought or saying one word to them, and even knowing that Koga's hands would be all over Kagome, I walked back out of the crowd of people. I think I heard Kagome call my name, but I did not respond.

Swearing in my head, I walked over to the refreshments table, and took a glass of pop, instantly downing it. Tossing it in the trash, I turned around and leaned against the table, searching through the crowd until my eyes landed on Kagome.

Koga was right up on her, and it agitated me to no end. But there was nothing I could do. At least not yet.

Damn.

It's going to be a long night.

* * *

An hour had passed, and I had done nothing. 

At first it was all fine. I kept my eye on Koga and Kagome while I lingered by the refreshment tables. When they had noticed I was gone, Kagome tried to convince me to come back, but we had a sort of yelling match, she stomped back and started dancing with Koga, all the while eyeing me.

When she had gotten back out there they danced inches apart, and face to face. Even though I hated it, a small part of me was glad that they weren't doing what everyone else was doing. And for the time being, I was content, not wanting to go out there alone. At one point, Koga had left her, and she was still out there dancing by herself. How she had the courage I don't know. I wanted to go out there and be with her, it was a strange desire, but I wanted to be the one next to her. However, after a couple minutes of having a screaming fight inside my head on what I should do, Koga appeared out of no where, and they began dancing again.

But now, it was getting to be too much. An hour and everything was normal, until I saw him smirk, grab Kagome roughly by the waist and turn her around so that they were now grinding. I bit my lip, trying to restrain myself. She had fucking said yes to this guy, there's no reason why I should go out there and ruin it for her.

God, when have I ever been this reasonable?

A couple songs passed, and I stood there, eyes narrowed, glaring at Koga's back. I couldn't see Kagome, and a rush of emotions kept taking my body by storm. I didn't know if she was actually having fun or going along with the hell of it.

I have known Kagome long enough to know that she doesn't stop anybody. When Koga had violated her at the party, it seemed she didn't really stop. And what she said this morning…she's scared. She's too scared to stand up for herself.

But that can't be true. She stands up to me.

But why not Koga?

Damn, women are confusing.

Curious to know how Kagome was feeling, I walked a little ways to the side, hoping to see around Koga. When I finally saw her face, I stopped and froze. I knew that look, and she was not happy. But she didn't seem mad and or anything, just…worried. Then I saw Koga's mouth next to her ear whispering unknown things, and right then I desperately wanted to take off my concealing necklace and listen with my demon ears to what he was saying.

But the look on her face told me everything. Without a second thought, I pushed through several couples, not taking a chance to hear them through their complaints at my receding figure. I was lost for a couple of seconds, stepping on my toes trying to find where Koga and Kagome were. I saw Sango's face, however, and then I proceeded on my way through the dancing throng.

I finally reached where I wanted to go, but the only people there were Miroku and Sango.

"Where's Kagome?" I asked them.

Both of them shrugged. "They probably went to go get some drinks or something," Sango said.

Inuyasha nodded, taking one last glance around the room before heading towards the tables that he was previously at. However, when he finally made it out of the dance floor, he saw neither Kagome nor Koga anywhere in sight. Panicking, his eyes darted around before he caught a glimpse of something green run out the door and into the hallway.

Thinking that that was Kagome, I almost ran to the door, and was about to turn when I heard a gasp and then someone say, "Please, I just need the jewel."

I knew that was Koga's voice. I began to jump out on him before Kagome said, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Please, I really need it. I can understand why you don't want to give it up but-"

"Koga, I already told you!"

Not wanting to hear anymore, I stepped from the doorway. The sound of my footsteps startled Koga and he looked at me and glowered as I made my way towards him. "What are you doing-" But he was cut off as a fist collided with the side of his face. He immediately let go of Kagome and I took her and pulled her behind me.

"What the fuck was that for?"

"For being a fucking bastard," I said as I took Kagome's arm and began pulling her back towards the gym, taking one last look over my shoulder and yelling, "And you better leave Kagome alone."

As soon as we entered the noisy room, Kagome turned and smiled at me. "Thank you," she said.

"What was he blabbing about to you?" I asked, not succeeding in keeping the anger out of my voice.

"I really don't know…" she said, staring at the floor, "I think he may be drunk, but then…I don't know…" I led her to a couple of chairs on the side and sat her down.

She played with her hands in her lap. "He thought I had something though, and he was really desperate to get it."

"He's just fucked up," I said, wanting to cheer her up but not knowing how. "Why'd you even come to this thing with him anyways?" Oh wow, smooth, Inuyasha. She'll be plenty cheered up now.

But Kagome took no heed to how gruff his question had come out. "I guess I couldn't really say no," she said.

I gaped at her.

She saw the look and faintly smiled. "I know it's strange, but…I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and he was nice to me-"

"Did you forget about what happened before?" I yelled out, not caring that a group of girls walking by gave me annoyed looks.

"I didn't forget, but he apologized…"

I stood up and yelled, "Yeah, the damn idiot apologized for raping you!"

Kagome stood up then, and faced me, her eyes darting with anger, "He did not rape me!" she yelled. "And he was drunk, so he didn't mean to-"

"Bullshit," I said.

"Are you kids done fighting over here?" snapping my head around, I came face to face with Miroku. Sango was next to his side, looking just as confused as he was.

"We heard you a long ways off," she said.

"Inuyasha's just being a jerk," Kagome muttered.

I turned on her, "What?" I yelled. "You're the one letting that asshole fucking touch you whenever he wants-"

"Sounds like someone's jealous," Miroku said, cutting off Inuyasha rampage. But it was now directed on him.

"I'm not jealous!" Inuyasha yelled.

"You keep telling yourself that,"

Letting out a frustrated growl, Inuyasha turned away from all of them.

He heard someone sigh behind him, and he almost jumped at how soft Kagome's voice had gotten. "Look, Inuyasha, I'm sorry."

I whirled around, "Wha-?"

She smiled at me, making me think how utterly confusing this woman was. One second she was biting my head off, and then the next she would be smiling and apologizing.

"I know you're just protecting me, Inuyasha," Kagome said, "Thank you."

I stood there speechless, unknown what to say under the heat of all three of them now looking at him. Instead I cleared my throat and shifted my feet, desperately wanting everyone to change the subject.

"So why weren't you out there with us?" Sango asked, noting the tension, but this wasn't really the break I wanted.

I shrugged. "Don't feel like it," I said casually.

"Hmm," Miroku said, tapping his finger on his chin, "I think you don't know how to dance, Inuyasha."

I gawked at him. "Wha-no, of course I do!" I said indignantly.

"I think you're right for once, Miroku," Sango said, earning a frown from Miroku, "He _did_ say he never went to one before…"

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," I said, crossing my arms and turning my head to the side.

Kagome giggled, and I twisted my head and glared at her. "What are you laughing about, wench?"

Suddenly, I felt a tug at my arm, and she started pulling me towards the crowd, "Come on, I'll teach you," she said.

I tried stopping, but she just kept on pulling, twisting her head and laughing at me every time I tried to pull her back to the safety of outside the dance floor.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she said, "Trust me."

Looking back for help from Miroku, I found him and Sango only standing there, waving at me cheerfully. I scowled at them and just followed Kagome along until she stopped in the middle of the crowd, all their bodies bumping into mine and pushing me closer to her.

She at once started moving her hips, and I only stood there, arms straight down at my sides, not knowing what to do. I could feel my fast heart beats pounding in my ears, louder than the piercing music.

She smiled, "Just try, Inuyasha. Just move along with me." She stepped closer to me, and I took one hesitant step back, however I was stopped by another person.

I turned to yell something at the person behind me, but halted my movement halfway when I felt hands on my shoulders. Whipping my head around, I found Kagome's smiling face an arm's length away.

"Kagome, I don't know-"

"Just try it. No one is looking but me, and I'm not here to make fun of you. Friends don't do that." She gave me a genuine smile, and without thinking, I started moving to the loud music pulsing through my body. Her smile only widened when she noticed me moving along with her.

I felt awkward. It was strange. I don't think I've ever danced, alone or with anybody else. I really wanted to stop right there and run away. I thought I could feel everyone's eyes looking at me and making fun of me behind my back. I was getting nervous fast, but there was nothing I could do. And I just couldn't break free of Kagome. Her eyes were just too much.

It took a minute or so, but not before long, I started feeling more and more at ease with myself. It was then when I did notice that no one was paying attention to us. I felt more confident, and even before realizing what I was doing, my hands were on Kagome's hips, pulling her closer to me. Her face was dangerously close to mine, and I loved this feeling of being able to touch her and be this close to her, and yet have no one yell at me. It was probably a disgrace to her if she knew she was dancing with a hanyou.

But she doesn't know, and that's makes this all the more better.

She turned around and pressed her back into my front. Gulping, I looked around to see that this was what everyone was doing. But my confidence did not falter. With my hands still holding her hips, I moved with her body against mine, my head lingering over her shoulder. This was a new feeling, one I've never experienced before, and I loved how in sync we were.

Her hair was in my face, and I breathed in her scent, letting it flood my senses and drown out all my thoughts. It didn't matter anymore if anyone _did_ look at us; all I could feel and see was just me and Kagome.

No one else seemed to matter.

The song ended before I knew it, and I let out a sigh I didn't know was coming. Then my head lifted when I noticed a slow song come on, and it was actually a song I knew, "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. I remember I had first heard it in Kagome's car. That was the day when we first met that bastard Koga and how he flirted with her and disrupted us the first chance that he got.

Suddenly realizing where I was and who I was with, I began to back away from Kagome, wondering if she wanted to go and find Koga now to dance with him. Yes, he was a bastard, but this damn girl forgives just about everyone and anything. I bet if Koga came and gave one simple apology, Kagome would of course not object to it.

But at the feel of my retreating, she turned around, and closed her arms around my neck, pulling me close. "Dance with me again?" she asked, her head cocked to the side.

Unable to resist, I nodded and wrapped my arms around her waist, instinctively drawing her even closer.

Ha, take that Koga.

"See. You can dance," Kagome pointed out.

I said nothing, but she didn't look for a response because she then said, "Well, if you want to afterwards, I was just thinking that maybe you, Sango, and Miroku could all spend the night. Want to? My mom said it was okay if you and Miroku could, so yeah."

"What about Koga?" I asked, unable to keep the irritation out of my voice, thinking that if Koga just walked up any second and apologized, Kagome would be at his feet again.

She shook her head. "Nah, it's okay, I just want my closest friends to be there. It'll be like our own after party thing." She beamed up at me, and I felt my heart leap at the sound of 'closest friend.'

I nodded. "Okay, wench."

She smiled and squeezed her arms tighter around my neck, then laid her head on my chest. I knew she could probably hear how fast my heart was beating now, but all in all, I really didn't care. Smiling to myself, I rested my chin on the top of her head, listening to the song play out and echo in my mind as we swayed back and forth.

Happy she was in my arms and not Koga's, I pulled her closer, if that was at all possible, and danced until the song slowly ended. As she backed away a little bit to smile at me, faster music suddenly started playing, and everyone around us started moving to the beat, again sweaty bodies bumping into me.

"There you guys are!" Turning our heads, me and Kagome saw Miroku and Sango stumble through a group of freshman girls towards us.

"So, I guess you learned how to dance?" Miroku asked with a grin.

I pushed at his shoulder lightly in response, and he laughed.

"Well, come on, dance with me, Inuyasha," Kagome said, right up against me. Blushing, now that I knew we were in front of Sango and Miroku's eyes, I began to move with her. She pressed her back up against me again, and I cherished the feeling of her body moving against mine, wondering if this would ever happen again.

Glancing over to my left, I saw Miroku and Sango doing the same thing, and I was relieved to find them not paying any attention at all to me and Kagome.

Grinning to myself, I felt all the nervousness slip away and I became secure again, moving with Kagome to the music, happy that Koga wasn't here to treasure who I was with.

* * *

After the dance, the limo had dropped me off at my house. I quickly got my things together and dressed in more comfortable clothes. Thinking my dad wouldn't care if I wasn't there, I didn't leave a note when I left the house when Miroku picked me up. 

It was a couple minutes later that Miroku and I made it to Kagome's house. Shutting the door behind me, I waited for Miroku to make it around the vehicle before we both proceeded up the shrine stairs.

"I always hated these things," Miroku muttered, slightly out of breath, as soon as we reached the top.

"I say we burn them" I said.

Miroku grinned and nodded.

Ringing the doorbell, we waited patiently until Kagome and Sango answered the door, both wearing the same happy expressions. They still both had their hair in from the dance, but were wearing their pajamas already.

"Hey guys," Kagome said cheerfully, letting us in "We'll be taking over the living room tonight, okay?"

We nodded, and after Kagome locked the door behind us, we followed her through her house and into the living room. Miroku and I dropped our bags on the floor.

"I hope you find it cozy with me in your sleeping bag with you, Sango," Miroku said suggestively, shifting his eyebrows at her. He moved towards her as she blushed and looked away, giving him the opportunity to grope her butt.

I winced at the sound of Sango slapping Miroku's face, her face now more red at the amount of fury she harbored at that second.

"Anyways, Inuyasha," Miroku said as he went and sat down on the couch, holding a hand and rubbing his sore cheek, "I have to leave early tomorrow morning because of work, so you can either wake up really early or get a ride home from either of these guys," and he pointed at Sango and Kagome who sat down on the couch beside him, Sango furthest away from the lecher.

Taking a seat on the chair next to the couch, I said, "I can just walk home."

"I'll drive you home, Inuyasha," Kagome offered, "Then you can sleep in with us."

I nodded and gave her a quick smile before letting it disappear, not wanting the others to see it.

"So, what do you guys want to do?" Kagome asked.

"I'm thinking we should play some twister," Miroku suggested.

"Yeah, we know you'd like that, pervert," Sango said.

Miroku placed a hand over his chest and gawked, saying, "I have no idea what you are talking about, Sango."

"Yeah right, remember last time?" Sango almost yelled. Kagome giggled while Miroku had a dreamy gaze in his eyes as he stared off into space.

"What happened?" I asked, although already having a faint idea on what it was about.

"You know how you can fall over on someone during the game?" Kagome said, still giggling, "Well…that's _all_ Miroku did when he and Sango played."

I chuckled at the different looks on both Miroku and Sango's faces.

Feeling a hand on my arm, I looked up to see Kagome now standing next to me, using a thumb and pointing at the kitchen. "You want to help me get some popcorn?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

I stood up and followed her into the kitchen, both of us leaving Miroku and Sango alone. I stood by the door and watched as she quickly grabbed a bag of popcorn and threw it in the microwave. Then she walked over towards the door I was in front of, and opened it slightly.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Shh," she said, holding a finger to her lips, "We're spying on Miroku and Sango. I want to see if one of them tries something."

Smirking, I peered through the small crack she left open in the door. All we could see were the back of their heads. Miroku had apparently moved closer to Sango, and they were talking, but I couldn't hear any of it. Damn, I hate being human.

"I can't hear anything, can you?" Kagome asked in a whisper.

I shook my head.

We watched in silence, but nothing happened. I heard them talking, but all I got was murmurs.

"Come on, Sango," Kagome urged on.

I turned my head and smiled at her. When she did the same, and our eyes locked, it was then I noticed just how close we were. Our breaths were mingling, and I swear if I moved even an inch closer our noses would bang into each other.

We stood there, and both of our smiles faded. All I could hear was my heart pounding and our breaths that were coming much quicker now.

Without warning, her face was closer to mine now, and I didn't know if it was me or her moving forward. I didn't know what was happening, and I was getting light headed just standing there under the pressure and thinking about it all. And I felt my eyes start to close with hers, and just barely could I feel her lips. Just a little bit closer now…

Abruptly, a beeping sound was heard, and we both immediately backed away. I was probably blushing just as bad as she was. Kagome smiled nervously and hastily walked over to get the popcorn out of the microwave. Seeing a chance to break free out of the tension-filled room, I muttered something inaudible and walked out of the kitchen, not wanting her to see my red face.

Heart still pounding, but feeling my face cool down a bit, I went and sat down next to Miroku, not really caring if I was 'interrupting anything.' They can carry on with whatever the hell they were doing. I just don't want to think about what_ I_ was doing.

God, what_ was_ I doing?

"Okay, guys, we can watch a movie if you all want to," Kagome said from behind me. I heard her feet rub against the carpet as she walked around the couch and in front of us, holding two bowls of popcorn. She avoided my eye, but her face was now normal. I looked away, not wanting her to see that I was staring at her.

"Great, what are we watching?" Sango asked.

Kagome shrugged, "Whatever you guys want to."

"How about _Anchorman_?" Miroku recommended with a short laugh.

"Sounds good to me," Kagome said.

"Me too," Sango added.

"How about you, Inuyasha, you okay with that?" Miroku asked.

I nodded, not really knowing what the movie was about.

Kagome handed one bowl of popcorn to Sango and the other to me (she evaded eye contact when she did so), before going to the TV in front of us, putting a disc in, turning it on, and then sitting down in the spot right next to me on the couch.

Now we were positioned so that Miroku and I were on the inside, and the two girls on the outside. I know Miroku was enjoying this, but after what happened in the kitchen, well….

But Kagome seemed to have forgotten about what had happened. When the movie started, she settled back into the sofa, her arm touching mine, and when I glanced over at her a couple of times, she looked completely relaxed.

Finally settling down my nerves, I ate the popcorn (with Kagome reaching for some too and sometimes brushing against my hand), and watched the movie, getting into it with everyone else and laughing at the ridiculous parts.

It was an hour later when I felt Kagome start to slump into me. Looking over at her through the darkness, I saw only her face lit from the television screen. Her eyelids were slowly closing and opening.

"Go to sleep," I whispered. She looked at me, and then slowly nodded, setting her head on my shoulder. That action of course caused my insides to jump. And just like that, she was asleep and I heard even breathing coming from her.

"This is the wonders of sleeping over with girls," Miroku said softly. Turning to look at him, he gestured with his head to the sleeping figure on the other side of him who had her head on his shoulder also.

Grinning, I nodded, and then looked back down at Kagome. Knowing she was asleep and wouldn't feel what I was doing, I put an arm around her shoulders. She nudged her head closer to my chest and wrapped an arm around my stomach, mumbling incoherent things.

"There you go, Inuyasha," Miroku said with a smirk.

I laughed softly, careful not to wake up the two sleeping girls. The movie became unknown to me then, because my eyes were fixed staring at the girl who had already changed so much, who wanted only the best for me, and who was my closest friend.

I cannot deny it anymore. I have changed, and this girl is the cause of it.

* * *

So as I looked over this, I was disappointed. I feel that I am a worse writer than I was lets say a year ago. So now, i promise you all that I will make sure there will be more details, more funness, and such. :)

My beta, **O-Mega Lead**, has been AMAZING!!! She gave me some ideas (the scene within Koga being mean to Kagome) for one thing and she has dealt with my random emails (haha). So, thank you!!!!!

Oh, and I don't think I'm still motivated enough for this story... / Sorry, I'm trying. More reviews?? (lol)

And also, thank you for all the reviews so far. I'm glad people actually DO review, and you guys are wonderful.

And I also have to say, THE SEVENTH HARRY POTTER BOOK WAS AMAZING!!! I was like bawling at every freakin' scene. Sooooooo good.

**Every Heart**


	8. Chapter 8

**Silent Darkness  
**Chapter 8

* * *

It's one thing to deal with your own problems. 

It's another to deal with someone else's.

* * *

"Inuyasha, wake up." 

I grumbled and turned away from the voice disturbing my sleep.

"Come on, I made breakfast."

I shook my head and snuggled more into my pillow.

"Ugh, fine, I'll get Sota to wake you up," then with a loud yell that rang through my ears, the voice called, "Sota! Come here!"

I heard the shuffling of feet, and then mumbled voices. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I didn't care either.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud yell, and then I let out a loud grunt when something heavy landed on my stomach. My eyes flew open, and I pushed over whoever was jumping on me. Sitting up and rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes, I saw Kagome kneeling next to me, giggling. On the other side of me was Sota who was grinning at me and rubbing his head.

"Well, that got you up," Kagome said between giggles.

I glared at her, but she only smiled at me.

"It was all Kagome's idea," Sota said when he saw me give him a look too.

"Well, get up, I made pancakes. Mom wasn't home, so you, me, and Sota can go eat now." She stood up as Sota ran into the kitchen, yelling with excitement. She held out her hand, and I grabbed it as she pulled me up.

"Where's Miroku and Sango?" I asked, noticing the empty spots where they were sleeping before.

"Both of them left to go to work," she said as we walked into the kitchen where Sota was already piling food onto his plate, "We didn't want to wake you up, so they told me to tell you that they had fun and that we all need to do this again."

I nodded and sat down next to Kagome. Our plates were already set out, and the plate of pancakes was in the center. Starving, I took my fork and went in to grab a couple. Then I stopped, fork in midair, and looked at Kagome with an evil grin, "You sure this isn't going to kill me right?" I asked.

"Why would it?"

"Because you made it," I said, smirking at the look on Kagome's face.

"Fine, you don't get any!" she said, grabbing the plate of pancakes from underneath where my hand was.

"Hey!" I said, trying to grab the plate, which she held over her head, while trying not to get up out of my seat. She had a triumphed smile on her face. I looked over at Sota for help, but he only sat there eating his food, watching the scene before him with interest.

"Damn it, wench!" I said, finally standing up and grabbing the plate from her.

She sat down next to me, laughing as I tried not to smile while putting some pancakes on my plate.

"Sorry, Inuyasha," she said, "You're just so funny when you get mad." I looked at her, and wanted to stare at the look on her face forever. It was utmost happiness. A smile took over her face, and it was contagious. I gave her one back, feeling for once at ease. I'm away from my damned house with my asshole of a father, I'm here with the first friend I ever had who, I have to say, cares for me more than anyone else.

If I lost her somehow, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

"So where's mom?" Sota suddenly asked with his mouth full of food.

Kagome shrugged as she turned her head away from me and started to eat. "She was gone last night too. She must have woken up early to go shopping or something."

"Probably doing mom stuff," Sota said.

I ate in silence and listened in on Kagome's and Sota's conversation on where their mother could possibly be. Meanwhile, my thoughts were roaming over what happened last night. I've never done any of that before, I mean, I've never gone to homecoming, had fun with my friends (which I never thought I'd have), and then spend the night at someone's house. Suddenly blushing, I looked away from Kagome, hoping she didn't see my red face as I remembered the kitchen incident. And then she had slept on my shoulder. God, what the hell is wrong with me?

We didn't stay like the whole night though. After the movie, Sango had woken up, and then woke up Kagome (much to my disappointment). We were all tired so we set out our sleeping bags on the floor and fell asleep. It took me a while to fall asleep, however, since I kept thinking about all that had happened that night.

It feels like some weird dream. Like none of this is real. I've lived so long without someone to be there for me and give me compassion and help me enjoy life in a new way. Before I thought life was just a meaningless road one had to take. I thought it had nothing worth going on for, and it was all lies and treachery. That's what it looked like anyways. But now that I'm experiencing new things and actually enjoying myself, it's like my whole world has turned around.

When I think back on before I met Kagome, how miserable I was and how much at one point I wanted to end it all, I now think how stupid I was. There was so much then I didn't know and didn't even try.

It's a good thing I kept going on though. If I stopped…_it_ before, I would've never met Kagome.

"You okay, Inuyasha?" I jerked my head up, finding Kagome's worried gaze staring through my eyes.

Yeah, if I'd never met Kagome…what would I be doing now? What would I be thinking about…or even thinking about _doing_?

This girl, whether she realizes it or not, has changed me dramatically in such a short time. I guess it was because I was desperate for something, _anything_, to help me out.

I know I'll never say it in words, but damn, I'm grateful I met this wench.

"Keh, I'm fine," I said to her while averting my gaze, hoping she couldn't see into my thoughts, "Just thinking."

She smiled. "It was fun last night, wasn't it?"

I nodded in response.

"I can't wait until I'm old enough to go to homecoming," Sota said.

"You still got a couple years, Sota," Kagome said. She was about to say something more when she shut her mouth suddenly hearing the sound of a door closing.

We listened to hurried footsteps come towards the kitchen. When a figure appeared at the doorway, we all looked and I heard Kagome take in a short intake of breath when we saw Mrs. Higurashi. I almost did the same.

As long as I've known the Higurashi family, I always see them laughing at everything, deeply caring for each other, and overall just passing the expectations of what a real family should look like.

But seeing Mrs. Higurashi like this, with dark circles under her saddened eyes, cheeks red most likely from crying, and her clothes a mess and wrinkly, makes me realize that even though someone may have the perfect life, they still have things to go through. That means that even though the Higurashis are perfect in every way, they can still be hurt. With that thought I glanced over at Kagome's concerned face and felt something tug at my heart.

"Mom, are you okay?" Kagome asked, getting out of her chair and walking over to hug her mother.

"Yes, yes, but I'm afraid you grandfather isn't," she said softly.

"What's wrong?" Sota asked, and I looked over to see him now wearing the same expression his mother had.

She sighed. "He's not doing well right now."

"Is that where you were this morning?" Kagome asked, and I wanted to go over there and hug or, anything, to wipe that miserable gaze out of her eyes and get rid of the tears threatening to fall. I felt out of place. This should only be discussed between Kagome and her family. I shouldn't even be here.

"Yeah, last night too," her mother said. "I had to stay over night with him." She paused with a shuddering breath, and my heart pumped louder, hoping she wouldn't start crying. "I think we should all go visit him right now, he'd like that." She forced a smile at her children. I don't even think she's noticed me yet.

"Maybe you should go up to bed and Sota and I will go," Kagome suggested, "That way you can get some rest-"

"No, I'm going too," her mother said, cutting Kagome off.

Kagome only nodded.

As Kagome looked down, Mrs. Higurashi looked over at me, and I believed she did just realize I was sitting here the whole time. That made me feel even worse. "I'm sorry for you to be caught in all this, Inuyasha," she said, giving me a weak smile.

"It's okay," I muttered, looking at the ground, wanting nothing more than to be out of this house, out of their problems, and back into my own. I can handle my father, but this…with a family I still hardly knew, and they still hardly knew me…it was unbearable.

"Well, I'll go and brush my hair. You two, get ready," Mrs. Higurashi said, "We'll leave in an hour."

"Can Inuyasha come?" I jerked my head up at Kagome who was looking at her mother.

Mrs. Higurashi nodded and then walked out of the kitchen, Sota following after her.

I stood up. "Kagome…" I began, not knowing what to say. She wanted me to go? Why? What use would I be? I don't even know what's wrong with her grandfather, only that he's sick in a hospital. Was it really serious? Or just a sickness that comes and goes?

She turned around and then hugged her arms around herself, looking at me with tear-filled eyes. My heart lurched. "Please, Inuyasha," she said in a small voice, "Will you come? I need you to be with me."

Surprised, I nodded, not finding anything else to say. I was sad at what was all going on and how this was affecting Kagome and her family, but at the same time I was touched.

Kagome walked a step forward and wrapped her arms around me. Doing the same, I pulled her in closer, feeling my shoulder start to get wet.

"I think he's dying, Inuyasha," Kagome said softly into my shoulder. "They said he had cancer, and he only had a year left…it's been over a year now," and she let out a small sob. I stood there, holding her closer, not knowing what else to do.

Damn, this girl doesn't deserve this. Her family doesn't deserve this. They've never done anything wrong, and the whole lot of them are too nice for their own good.

And I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. Judging by the reactions I've seen from the Higurashi family, they were all close to their grandfather. I guess knowing you're about to lose someone is worse than having them die unexpectedly. My mother had died quickly, without me having to worry about it beforehand. But the Higurashi family is right now waiting for it to happen. They know it's going to occur, but that makes it all much worse.

If there was only something I could do.

I don't know how long we stood there; we were both too wrapped up in our thoughts. When she finally did pull away, and when I saw how her eyes were begging with me, unreadable emotions were rolling around in my stomach, in my heart, in my veins, everywhere.

I wanted to protect her.

From everything.

"Inuyasha?" she said weakly, "We should go get dressed, grab your bag and you can change in my room. I'll go in the bathroom."

A couple of minutes later, when I was dressed, I sat on the side of her bed, staring at my folded hands, twirling my thumbs around each other.

I guess I was nervous.

A knock came at the door, and Kagome's voice following it, "Inuyasha, can I come in yet?"

"Yeah," I said, wincing at how pathetic my voice sounded. Damn it, I shouldn't be getting like this. This shouldn't be bothering me.

But it is.

The door opened, and Kagome walked in wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. Her hair was up, and even though she looked a mess, I still thought she was beautiful.

Fuck, where did _that _come from?

She smiled and sat down next to me on the bed, which shifted from the weight. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and I forced myself not to jump at the contact.

There was nothing but silence. And that goes for the whole house too. It sent a couple of chills up my spine. I wanted the Higurashis back to how they were before this all troubled them. This silence is reserved for families like mine, not theirs.

"Um, should I just leave my stuff here…when we leave?" I asked, wanting to break that insufferable silence that I wanted to rip apart, if that were possible.

She nodded against my arm. And then that silence came again.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was cut off when Kagome said, "Thank you for agreeing to come with us."

Closing my mouth, I nodded, not sure if she saw it or felt it or what.

"You don't have to if you don't want to…"she trailed off.

I thought about it. Yeah, I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be in the middle of their problems. If it were me, I wouldn't want anyone to come along. But then again, I'm the type that doesn't want anyone knowing.

A part of my mind screamed at me. It was yelling, 'she asked you to go!'

And it was right.

"I'll go with you," I softly said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you so much, Inuyasha," she said.

I said nothing, but looked at my arm that was slung over her shoulder, thanking god that I have not gotten yelled at about this. How many times have I done this? It feels so natural; I don't even mean to do it. But hell, I haven't even had this much contact with anyone in so long. Was I pushing it too far?

* * *

It was an hour later when we arrived at the hospital. Right now a young nurse was escorting us down the busy hallway, her heels clacking away as we all trudged behind. After we had all dressed, Mrs. Higurashi drove us all here as quickly as she could and now we were passing rooms where doctors and nurses were running in and out of. 

The whole car ride had been unpleasantly silent, and I knew what everyone was thinking about. What I was worrying about was what the old man would say when he found someone he didn't know in his room when he was so close to dying.

"Here we are," the nurse said in a high voice, gesturing for us to go in a room at the right.

Mrs. Higurashi and Sota headed right in. Kagome started to, but noticing the sudden lack of a body next to her, she stopped and looked back at me. I stayed where I was, looking at the room with uncertainty.

"You coming?" she asked.

I shifted on my feet. "Um, maybe I should, uh, stay out here," I said, looking downwards.

"Why?" she asked.

What was I going to say? That I was scared of being in a room with a dying man? Or that I was worried of doing or saying the wrong thing that will upset everyone? Or even the fact that I've never comforted anyone before, and Kagome is expecting me to do it now?

She walked forward when I said nothing and put a hand in mine. Startled, I looked from our joined hands to her teary eyes, and I mentally cursed myself for not being able to stop her from crying.

"You don't have to come in if you don't want to," she said, giving me a weak smile. And I knew I made a mistake when I stared into her blue eyes and seeing everything swirling in them. How could I resist that?

I should be protecting her, not getting cold feet!

"Never mind, I'll go in."

She smiled a little wider in return. And then, with our hands still together, we walked into the stuffy room. I squeezed her hand in reassurance, unsure of what else to do.

Her grandfather was in a bed on the left, smiling at Mrs. Higurashi and Sota who were sitting in the chairs on each side of the bed. Kagome pulled me along to the side with Sota on it, and I tried to hide myself behind Kagome, feeling that I shouldn't be here.

"Hi, gramps," Kagome said softly.

"I see you've finally got yourself a boyfriend," he said in a hoarse voice. I blushed.

"No, he's not my boyfriend," Kagome squeaked out. I shifted on my feet to look at her face and found that she was just as red as I was.

There was a silence until I stepped forward around Kagome. "I'm Inuyasha," I said, wanting to break the tension between the old man and myself.

He eyed me carefully, and with the deafening silence and the way he was judging me just by looking at me, I myself wanted to run out of here and never return. But feeling Kagome's sweaty palm against mine made me remember why I was here in the first place.

Suddenly his eyes widened, and he pointed a shaky finger at me, yelling, "Demon!"

I froze. How did he know?

"Demon! He's a demon! DEMON!"

"Father!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed, pulling his hand back down to his side, "You don't say that to people!"

Sota and Kagome started laughing. Why they find this so funny, I don't know. This man knows _what_ I am. If my father ever caught wind of this, I know he'd stick something right up my-

"Sorry, Inuyasha," Kagome said, smiling at me, "I forgot to tell you he's a little crazy," and then she leaned in and whispered, "Always has been. Believes demons are real and stuff." The breath on my ear made me shiver, but it seemed to go unnoticed. She leaned back away from me, and smiled at her mother who was still trying to settle down the old man.

"He's a demon I tell you!" he yelled again.

"Is something wrong here?" We all turned our heads to find the nurse standing with her hands on her hips and looking pissed off.

"No, nothing," Mrs. Higurashi said sweetly.

"Well you better quiet down, other guests are sleeping and they don't want to be disturbed!" And she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, the sound of her clanking footsteps slowly fading away.

But as soon as she was completely gone, a doctor came in, looking at us all and smiling.

He walked next to Mrs. Higurashi and said, "I'm Doctor Myoshi, and I have some good news for all of you. It seems in the past couple of hours Mr. Higurashi here has gotten better, and still has more time left than we thought last night."

I heard a sigh of relief, but then only realized that it was coming from me.

Good, now I don't have to stay here and play hero for Kagome.

"That's good to hear," Mrs. Higurashi said.

The doctor nodded. "That's all the news I have left for you, but do you have any questions?"

"When am I allowed to go home?" The old man asked.

"I'm afraid you will have to stay here, Mr. Higurashi," Doctor Myoshi said, "Your condition is still bad, and you should be under urgent care in case something goes wrong."

Kagome's gramps let out a frustrated sigh, but said no more.

"Well, if that's all the questions, I must go to my next patient." The doctor said before he turned and walked out of the room.

"We'll visit as much as we can," Kagome said, giving her grandfather a trusting smile.

He nodded, apparently not wanting to say anything more on the subject. Same goes for me.

* * *

We left the hospital at around five o'clock. The whole family talked about everything during our stay there. I sat next to Kagome the whole time, hoping I was doing the right thing. I didn't talk much, as I didn't want to butt in on the family's conversation. And even though I hate the hospital, being there in the prescence of the Higurashi family calmed me. 

I was invited to eat dinner at the Higurashis. I can tell you that I'm getting used to having actual meals now. At my house, all I ever have are flimsy TV dinners and Spaghettios, but nothing ever as special as what Mrs. Higurashi makes.

After eating, Kagome and I went up to her room. When I was grabbing all my stuff together so that she can go drop me off at my house, she said, "I'm glad I had you there with me, Inuyasha." I looked over to see her sitting on the bed.

Stuffing the rest of my clothes in my duffel bag, I straightened up, only nodding in reply to her comment. What could I have said?

But she went on, "It's still kind of hard though. He might not have…left us today, but I think he's going to soon." She paused and took a deep breath. "I don't know how to deal with this," she added in a whisper.

I stood there like a wimp, afraid to do or say anything. She started crying though, and then I reacted. I walked over and sat down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulder. "Hey, don't cry, wench," I gently said, cursing at myself for not making her feel better and for saying 'wench' at a time like this.

"Has this ever happened to you?" she asked, looking up at me and wiping away the stray tears on her red cheeks.

"Has what happened to me?"

"Losing someone."

I froze, not knowing what to say. If I say yes, then I'm giving in to her. Then she's going to find out about everything and suddenly hate me and leave me and-

-and I nodded.

I think I'm out of my mind right now.

"Who'd you lose?"

"Don't worry about it," I said quickly.

She sighed, and turned her head away from me. "You don't have to tell me now, but just know I'm here for you. Okay?"

I nodded. I've already said (or not said) too much. She doesn't need to know anything else. She doesn't need to be mixed up with my shit.

I know it happened years ago…but it was something that had turned everything from happiness to remorse. I'll be damned if I ever tell anyone about it. My shit, my problems. Not anyone else's.

"I guess I should be used to this, right?" Kagome continued, "I mean, my father died too…but I was little when that happened. I think it's harder now because I know more about my grandfather, and I have more memories with him. Losing him is like…" she trailed off, and a heart wrenching sob was heard.

I pulled her even closer, and she immediately wrapped her arms around my torso and buried her face into my chest. My shirt was getting wet, and my heart was twisting in pain listening to her cries. I felt pathetic saying nothing, but at the same time I felt this was all I could do.

Time seemed to roll by then, and I held her until her sobs went to soft cries, and then her crying turn to sniffling. At some point, she sat up straighter and was just sitting beside me, her head on my shoulder.

What she said next caused everything inside of me to jolt awake.

"You're such a great friend, Inuyasha."

What have I even _done_ to make her think so?

* * *

When I finally arrived at my house that night, I waved goodbye to Kagome who was pulling out of the driveway. Turning back around, I started walking forward up the porch, all the while bracing myself for what was to happen next. 

My dad was home. His car was in the driveway, and all of the bottom floor's lights were on.

Pushing the door open, I adjusted with the light, and dropped my bag on the ground, almost freezing in action when I saw my dad sitting on a chair facing the television, but his head was towards me.

"And where have you been, boy?"

I looked around him and saw empty bottles surrounding him.

Great.

Just fucking great.

He was usually okay to get along with when he didn't drink. But I guess it's hard for him to stop, since it's something he's been doing since…since mom died.

And as a demon, it takes much more alcohol to get them drunk. But this man just wastes all of our money on that shit, and I get the worst blow of it whenever I'm home.

That's unforgivable.

Taking off my concealing necklace, I started walking towards the stairs, feeling my body change. "I was at a friend's house," I muttered, just about to make it to the first step when his loud voice boomed in my ear.

"AND DID I SAY YOU COULD GO?" I whirled around, surprised at how close he had gotten to me. He was right up in my face, but I did not flinch and did not cower. I was a demon for Christ's sake, and something like this is not going to fucking scare me.

"Just leave me alone!" I yelled, and was about to turn away from him when a hand squeezed my arm and roughly pulled me back. I felt a bruise coming along, even in my demon form. When I turned back into a human, I wouldn't even want to look at it.

I tried shrugging off his hand, but he only tightened his squeeze.

"Fuck off!" I yelled, giving his hand one last yank and setting my arm free. I was about to again run up the steps, not feeling like dealing with this, until I saw his arm rise. I was too late in reacting though, because then his fist collided with the side of my face, knocking my head back into the wall. I was dizzy at first, but regained my balance quickly. As soon as I was back into focus, I cursed at him, and was about to smack him one too, when I saw he was walking away.

"That should teach you," he said, wiping his hands off as if there was dust on them. As if I was just a problem.

Well damn it, fuck him. He's the one with the fucking addiction. He's the one who went berserk when mom died, not me.

I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to go up to him and punch him and leave him bruises like the ones he's left me. And kick him too, to count up to the amount of times he's done _that_.

I walked forward a step, ready to pounce on him, but then paused. Regret and shame flooded my being in one split second. Kagome's image started floating in my head, taunting the demon part of my soul that wanted to hurt my dad.

I could almost imagine my demon self and Kagome bickering about what I should do.

But then…I knew that if she was here, she wouldn't want to see me doing this. Or even see me thinking about what I want to do.

With both sides of me, the human and the demon, arguing, I did nothing but stand there, trying to figure out what to do.

But in the end (after a couple of long aggravating minutes), I walked away. I don't know if it I was being courageous or cowardly by walking up the stairs and slamming my bedroom door shut behind me. I didn't know what to think of myself as I sat down on my bed and tried to calm down the raging demon.

The human side of me and the image of Kagome kept saying I was being brave by walking away.

And the demon side was taunting me for being such a coward.

Damn it, Kagome, do you realize how much you've done to me?

* * *

I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK!!! 

Plus I had bball and band camp and then I went up to my cottage for a couple of days...but still.

Anyways, here's the chapter. Hope you guys liked it. Nothing much more to say.

But I was wondering how I was doing with Inuyasha/dad scenes. I know that on a lot of stories, people over exaggerate with the parents beating the kid thing. I'm trying not to do that, just trying to show you guys whats happening and why his life sucks...but I would like to get feedback on that. Like if I'm over doing it, or under doing it...or whatever.

And the reviews...WERE AMAZING!!!!!! I was so happy to get so many.

So thanks to: **more**, **mini power **(and thank you so much for updating to every chapter. You're reviews made me so happy, and I felt like I was actually doing something good. **), xXbeautifullyshatteredXx** (lol, its okay), **Hanako Horigome** (Yeah, gave him trust problems so that Kagome would be like, "oh inuyasha! I love you so much, let me help you!" ), **xXx-ew-no-xXx (**lol, thanks. And I read your first story, it's not sucky!!!), **Oky Verlo, Pshychoticmonkey** (I know!!! Killing Fred was like the worst, and then Lupin and Tonks had a baby, and then they died...ugh, tearing up right now just thinking about it), **kyokat lover **(awww, yay, thank you so much for updating about every chapter. Your reviews made me laugh too **), CloudsAaeris909** (Yep, have some BIG plans for that scene, hehe)

**Every Heart**


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